Glass Shards
by acochran5
Summary: "It felt like glass. One tiny cut at a time. It didn't hurt at first, but as I continued more glass, more cuts until I was bleeding from every inch of my body. And when there's no more skin it just keeps cutting, deeper and deeper and it never stops. It's still here. I can feel it, one tiny glass shard at a time." Zervis or Zeref x Mavis! COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail**

 **Warnings: Mentions of self-harm and character death. Don't say I didn't warn you!**

 **Slight Zervis. One-sided I think but I'm not sure...**

* * *

The world stood unmoving, desolate. "In the end, the world crumbles." He whispered to her. Night had fallen, and the only thing left of that day was the rubble… and of course, the bodies.

She wished she could forget. But it was too late, she'd already seen. The mass destruction before her was devastating. "It's only you and me now, Mavis. What should we do? Now that I am free."

She finally opened her eyes once more if only to shoot him a deadly look. "How can you speak so casually?" she asked softly. "These deaths… do they mean nothing?"

"The only one who matters is you, Mavis."

"I…" Mavis closed her mouth when she realized she did not have a response. He glanced at her, he could see the hurt, he could see the emptiness. He knew her well, knew what her anguish looked like. This was it, her face looked as it had a century ago, when he told her of the curse. This was the second time he'd placed that look on her face.

"Mavis, it doesn't matter. They're mortal, they were going to die and leave you someday anyway." He reasoned.

"But… but I wasn't ready." She said, tears pooling in her eyes. "I wasn't ready for someday!" she screamed and backed away from him. "Yes, I knew they'd all die someday. How could I not know that? I'm not stupid, Zeref! I just… they were special. Every single one of them. They were special, they were my family, I cared about them. All of them."

"They were human."

"They were just like us! You're mortal now, Zeref, and you've always been human! And they've lived through pain and hurt, they bonded together! They moved forward despite the hopelessness. They knew there was no such thing. No one could touch them, not while they believed…"

"They know not of true suffering. They're silly, their problems are petty. Honestly Mavis, you sound as if you care."

"I do care…" she whispered. "I know it's a difficult concept for you to grasp. You don't understand how to care anymore, I can tell."

Zeref was silent and remained impassive, wondering what she was going on about now. "You think their problems are trivial compared to yours. I don't know, maybe they are… but to them, those problems were just as difficult, just as trying. It doesn't matter if those problems were "lesser" they were still an obstacle. An obstacle they had to face and overcome. And they triumphed time and time again. They never lost faith, and then. You came along. I don't understand. Why couldn't they beat you? You're no different from everyone else. Why couldn't they do it."

The tears made their way down her pale cheeks and dripped onto the dirt. "Perhaps they weren't ready." Zeref said, glancing at her. "But that matters very little. It's just you and me. I'm free from the curse that has plagued me for over 4 centuries. I can do anything now… I can do anything you desire."

"Zeref, I don't wish to do anything with you."

"And why not? I thought we were in love."

Mavis looked up at him, through the tears and stood up on tip-toe and grabbed his face between her hands. It cheek bones were sharp as though he hadn't eaten in a while. The centuries must've been catching up with him. His brows were furrowed in concern, "Mavis…" she put a finger to his lips effectively shushing him.

He had dark circles under his eyes, his skin was even more ghostly than hers, black hair laid flat on his forehead. Zeref's lips trembled, in fact, his entire body shook though he didn't seem to realize it. What she noticed most though, were his eyes. He looked not like he had, not how she remembered him.

Mavis could remember a time when those eyes had held warmth and love no matter how reluctant. She remembered when they'd been filled with anger a cruelty with that glimmer of sadness. She saw none of that there now. His eyes were dead, as if he'd been beaten so hard, he broke. "I know exactly what you thought." She said softly. "I know exactly what you felt… what you feel. It's not the same for me though, Zeref. I don't feel that way for you."

His expression didn't change, not even to show shock. It didn't feel like he was hiding anything either. Had he expected this? Surely not. Perhaps it was less that he expected it, and more like he just didn't care. "I do love you." She told him. "How could I not? You were all the things I wanted to be. You were powerful and kind and gentle… you were someone I looked up to. It hurts to see you like this. It hurts to see you so beaten. I can't help that though, you know I can't. I never truly liked you romantically. That kiss we shared, it was out of desperation and despair. I did not feel a single positive emotion from it. I was seeking comfort and reassurance. I feel like I used you… I feel like in the end, you'd do anything for me. And I… I don't deserve that."

She was nervous. He wasn't saying anything and perhaps it was because he had nothing to say. "Perhaps, it's more accurate to say that I had aspired to. But then, you go and do this. Wreak mass destruction on the world. Why? Why would you do that, kill all these people. I thought you were good, and kind! Why?"

"They were nothing." He said quietly. "Mortal, weak, useless. They were like vermin, giving nothing in return. In this world only the strong survive. It's been proven time and time again. In this case, I was the strongest. I survived… I survived." Mavis fingers tensed, her eyes narrowing furiously. Was that all? He survived? What kind of reason was that to want to do all this?

"You… you…" she shook with rage, unsure of what to do. She didn't know. Nothing she did would have any effect. It didn't matter what she did. He was too broken to register any of her anger.

"Is something wrong, my love?"

Mavis took a deep breath to calm her rage. It wouldn't do any good anymore. Her insults wouldn't phase him, nothing she said out of hate had any effect. "I know that's what you believe. But in this world, we live. What do you think you contribute to this world Zeref?"

"Well, my purpose is to rid the entire world of its inhabitants. Fiore is just the beginning. Soon, no matter if I've lost my curse, all will die." Zeref smirked slightly his dead features reanimating for an instant before returning to its original state. "We can do it together, darling. Won't it be beautiful? Think, the world in a state of despair. All, life forms wiped out, making way for the greatest plan of all time."

"What plan?" Mavis asked, almost afraid to.

"The plan to create the new world. One where all humans contribute, and those that don't well… I suppose I'll just have to deal with them."

"Zeref, you can't."

"Why not? The hardest part is out of the way." Mavis glanced towards Natsu who lay unmoving along with everyone else.

"I hate you for this." Mavis said, trembling.

Zeref turned to her, his face still dead. "I know, my fairy. But that's okay. I still love you."

And for an instant Mavis almost felt bad for what she had said… almost. "This isn't something you'll get away with!"

Zeref shrugged. "There are no more heroes. There never were any to begin with. Don't pretend like you don't understand. Deep in your heart you want this. Deep in everyone's heart, they want this."

"You don't get to decide what people want!"

"I don't see why not."

"Zeref… I can't. I can't allow you to do this! I have to stop you somehow, even if it hurts."

"Is that right?"

"Yes. It is. I don't know what I ever saw in you to begin with." She let go of his face, and even then, she was slightly reluctant to do so. He looked so tired. But he was too invested to give it up now. He wouldn't listen to her, or to anybody. She could only hope that when she had to kill him, he had his back turned.

She couldn't do it now, obviously, for she had just told him her plans. But she would do it at some point. "I assume you're coming, my fairy."

"Stop calling me those things. I said I wasn't interested in you that way." She said, slightly furious.

"I know. But I'm interested that way. Besides, I'm afraid I don't much care about what you think."

Mavis's mouth almost dropped open, but she managed to keep it closed. "And why not?"

"Well, you just underhandedly threatened to kill me. Forgive me if I don't take your opinions into consideration." Mavis frowned, almost saddened by that fact. "You're a conniving genius, my love. I'm cautious is all. I might not reject death, but I shall only embrace it once I have created my new world."

"How can you do this? You were so loving."

"Contradiction changes a man. For all you know, that person that you met that day, it could be just another fake. I'm not even sure of my own personality any longer. That's rather sad, isn't it. Pathetic really."

"Zeref…"

"Mavis don't look at me like that. It makes me feel like I'm some poor, sick, dying man who had his whole life ahead of him."

"That was very specific." Mavis commented softly, though she was thinking about everything… about what he said. He was a poor sick man. He was dying, he might already be dead. And he'd never gotten to live his life. She wondered how many things he'd missed out on, wondered just what he'd given up for Natsu. But most of all, she wondered if… "Was it worth it?" she asked. Zeref froze for a split second.

"What do you mean?"

"Was it worth it, to bring him back. Was it worth all the suffering." Grief flashed across his features as he glanced at the unmoving body.

"If you're asking whether I'd do it again the answer is yes." I'd do it a million times over for him… and I'd kill him again, every single time. Because he lived his life, Mavis. You know the adventures he went on. He got to meet the family of his dreams, the family he deserved instead of someone like me. I gave him everything. He only did those things because of me. Besides, I figured I'd do these worthless humans one last favor. I figured I'd let him worm his way into someone else's heart, and then maybe that person would love Natsu as much as I do. Maybe, they'd love him more… I kill him now, because I know he is mortal too, and one day, he would've died anyway. I want to kill him, I'd rather it be me then some useless nobody…"

"Did… how did it feel?"

"Words cannot describe it."

"Can you try?" she asked, curious, always curious. She figured she might as well get to know everything about her former friend, about what went through his mind because she sure wasn't going to be able to tell from looking at his face.

"It felt like glass. One tiny cut at a time. It didn't hurt at first, but as I continued more glass, more cuts until I was bleeding from every inch of my body. And when there's no more skin it just keeps cutting, deeper and deeper and it never stops. It's still here. I can feel it, one tiny glass shard at a time."

"That sounds like, like…"

"Torture? That would be the best word to describe it."

"I'm sorry. It must hurt, but if it does then why would you… why would you do it? Why kill him."

"I already told you. I'd rather it me then some nobody. If I let Natsu die, if I knew I'd let him suffer then the glass shards would never forgive me. For now, I have hope they will stop one day. Once they realize there's nothing left to cut. But until that day comes the cuts will never stop. Have you ever felt the cutting Mavis?"

She hadn't. She'd never heard grief described like that. "No. Whenever someone close to me dies… well, I feel like I've been stabbed." But as of right now, she knew that she'd rather feel like getting stabbed before feeling the glass any day. "How long have they been cutting, the shards?"

"Since the day I lost them, my family. It drives me insane. Does it keep you up at night? The voices, the grief, the glass. Does it hurt? Does it ever hurt so much you can't sleep? Do you ever cut yourself, to remind you that you're alive, to remind you that it can hurt on the outside too? Do you?"

"No, Zeref… I don't." she whispered. His hands trembled so violently that he couldn't even clench his fists.

"You… don't." he sounded disappointed, resigned. "Then I'm guess you don't dig your nails into your palm until they bleed, or stay up late talking to people who do not exist, or feeling like your heart is about to strangle you?"

"No."

"I see." He turned to her, his expression a little wilder then it had been before, displaying his insanity. "You asked me if it was worth it, so now it's my turn. Is it worth it? Is life worth this feeling?"

Mavis wasn't sure how to respond. "That, I don't know. I've never felt that way, so I couldn't say." Zeref smiled petulantly.

"Well, then, that's alright. It was a stupid question. Now then, let's go. I'm tired of this, I need a scenery change." So, Mavis had no choice but to follow him, unsure of what she was feeling in her heart. Unsure of what Zeref was feeling.

"It wasn't stupid." She said.

"No, it was stupid. I'm just going to forget I asked, there was no need for a question so simple."

"Um... Then, what _is_ the answer?"

"No. Life is not worth this agony." Zeref said, walking across the barren wasteland that just a few hours ago, had been the sparkling city of Magnolia where lively people went about to live their lives. Just ahead, laid the airship, ready for takeoff.

"I see, so that's what you think."

"No, this is what I know." Zeref said, climbing up the ladder, helping Mavis whenever he could.

Mavis wondered why he was even keeping her around, surely there was a reason. _Maybe because he loves you._ A voice in the back of her head said. She knew that voice was probably right, and it only made her feel worse. He loved her in a romantic sense, but she just didn't see him that way. And after everything he'd done, she wasn't sure she ever could. "I know that life isn't worth it. In the end, there's only one thing that's worth this feeling."

At the edge of the airship, Zeref clung to the side, staring out the open hatch to peer down at the city. One last look in the direction he'd left him. "He was worth it." Zeref whispered, tears finally making their way into his eyes.

Mavis pretended she didn't see them as she didn't know what she could do for him if she decided to acknowledge them. Any attempts she tried would probably end in failure and awkwardness anyway. "He was always worth everything." Zeref closed his eyes and pursed his lips together.

"He was worth it, huh? You must really love him."

"In my own way, I suppose I do." Zeref wiped away the tears he'd allowed himself to shed for only a minute. "I'd do anything for him. Obviously, I endure this torture every day for him."

"I see. I wish I'd had a person like that." She'd had Zera, she'd had friends, but… would she have slaved away to bring Zera back from the dead? No, she wouldn't have. She would've deemed it impossible, and even she hadn't she wouldn't have done it anyway. She decided that Zera was happier, waiting where she was. Waiting for Mavis to return. And since Mavis knew Zera was happy, it wasn't worth it. It wouldn't be worth this pain.

Mavis put gentle, child-like fingers on Zeref's shoulder. "No, you don't. If given the choice I never would've loved a person this much." Zeref clutched his shirt over where his heart was. "I never would've lchosen this fate. In the end it causes only pain, no matter how wonderful it seems to start out." He looked at her with sad eyes. "Mavis, this is my sole advice to you…"

"You're sole advice?" Mavis wondered.

"My last advice, because from here on out I suppose you'll be trying to kill me. There's no point in giving you advice then."

"I guess that makes sense." Mavis said, trying to hide her sadness from the fact she wasn't trusted anymore.

"Never love someone to the point you'd give up your soul for them. Never love someone more than you love yourself. Never put yourself through what I have put myself through. Never do what I have done, for I know that it's wrong. Somewhere, I know this is wrong! It never should've happened, and I'm sorry for their deaths. Somewhere inside me, I am. But I can't reach it any longer. So, never do it. Never love someone to the point where you would bear my curse for 400 centuries. And certainly, never love someone to the point where, if given a choice to change what you did, you still would pick the same path. Never love someone to the point you would do anything to see their smile once again. I made that mistake, my love… the best mistake of my life." Zeref snorted humorlessly. "Even now, I love him too much to consider what I did horrible, even now that he is gone. Never suffer Mavis. Your soul can only bear so much. And if you ever feel the glass shards, run and never look back. If you do, you'll stay forever."

"Stay… forever?"

"Yes, stay forever. But if you're feeling the glass shards it's probably to late to run anyway."

"And even with all these complaints he was still worth it?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Zeref asked. Mavis frowned, unsure what he meant. "He'll always be worth it. For eternity."

"What is eternity?" Mavis asked.

"Eternity… Eternity is heaven or hell. It's your choice of what you want it to be." Zeref leaned closer, his expression blank, yet his whispering tone sent pleasant shivers up her spine. She couldn't tell what they were, but they made her heart speed up slightly. His hand gently cradled her face. He was still pale, still broken, but he was different now. His tone was low and persuading. "I went to hell."

"Z-Zeref." She said, looking for a protest but unable to find one. He backed her against the steel of the airship his trembling hands on either side of her head. She could feel his mouth, so close it was almost touching her skin. She could feel his hot breath against her neck and her fingers twitched with anticipation. Hell sounded very tempting right now. Even then, Mavis was scolding herself. She wasn't supposed to like him romantically, so what was this feeling? His eyes, the ones that had been broken burned with new passion. Her legs felt like jelly, like she was going to collapse at any moment. The fire in his eyes, it looked so oddly familiar that Mavis was sure, just for a moment that those were Natsu's eyes. But they weren't. They were pitch-black, unwavering, beautiful eyes. He only said four words, the last words, they were enough to make her wonder, just wonder what would happen if she did. What surprised her most was that the notion didn't disgust her. She actually kind of considered it.

"What about you, my fairy?" he whispered, "Will you join me?"

* * *

 **A/N Here you are, another story, this one came to me after reading a creative writing prompt. I haven't completed the prompt exactly, and I know this is fine as a oneshot. But I was thinking of making it a multi-chap. Do you guys think I should continue it? I don't know myself, but I'll think about it and leave it as, in-progress. If you see any mistakes or find someway I could make it better, talk to me! Thanks for reading and as always, reviews/favorites/follows are always appreciated. Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

Mavis lifted her arms and shoved him away. "Don't come near me." She said, turning. "A-and don't force me into intimate positions like that."

Zeref blinked and rose up from the floor, smiling slightly. "And what are you smiling about!" she cried. How could he smile now of all times, after everything!

"It's nothing, just that… you refuse to join me."

"I'm sorry you decided to spend your eternity in hell but… you won't drag me down with you. I refuse to allow that to happen."

"Perhaps, but you know what they say." He smirked slightly, "Misery loves company." She growled and opened her mouth to respond but he'd already left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Mavis was left, shivering inside the small, enclosed space. She kept staring at the closed door, Zeref's words still echoing inside her head. "What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself. She couldn't kill him, she knew she couldn't. She didn't have it in her because, unlike him, she was not a murderer. "I'm despicable… for even thinking of doing something like that. I'm despicable for even considering killing him. Killing someone who loves me." She slid down the wall, burying her face in her hands. "So, I suppose the only thing left for me to do is keep an eye on him. Who knows, maybe I can even stop some murders." Mavis said, standing up.

It was very honestly her only other solution. What else could she do? So, Mavis quickly left the small room, slightly surprised that Zeref hadn't locked her in there. "Zeref, wait up!" she called, turning the corner. Zeref seemed to be waiting in the middle of the hallway.

"I knew it wouldn't take you long to seek me out. What is it you desire, my fairy?" Zeref asked. Mavis flushed red at those stupid pet names at the end of his sentences.

"I… I wish to join you on your quest."

"You wish to help me achieve world domination?" he asked, seeming surprised though he quickly hid it.

"No." she said. "I will thwart you in whatever way I can. I wish to join you in order to stop you."

Zeref tilted his head slightly, "I must admit that was not an answer I expected, and it doesn't quite make sense, but I will allow it because it intrigues me." Mavis felt the urge to yell at him for talking about her like a foreign object he was trying to dissect.

"Just shut up, will you. I get the feeling you like to hear yourself talk." Zeref shrugged and his pale hand reached out, grasping hers. His hands were ice-cold and unnaturally smooth, free of any callouses or injuries. Mavis contemplated the idea of wrenching her hand out of his grip merely out of spite but then ordained it childish and just let him guide her throughout the airship.

"Because you've decided to join in our little escapade, I decided that you should know of everyone who you're going to be with for a while." Mavis didn't think she really wanted to meet any of them, ever, but she thought that wouldn't be a very appropriate opinion to announce.

"If I must." She grumbled softly.

The ship was ginormous with the symbol of Alverez marked everywhere that was deemed acceptable. The ship seemed to ooze riches and money with an amazing architectural design and beautifully crafted artwork. The ship was covered in the colors gold and black and to Mavis it seemed like she was traveling in a space ship or something, considering how quickly Zeref was dragging her through the halls and around the corners. Mavis thought that perhaps he was just excited, and indeed that was it.

Zeref was excited, though he didn't outwardly show it. On the inside, his heart was pounding like crazy. All he could think about was that perhaps Mavis really did care. It would be like hoping for a miracle after everything he'd done and, he knew he didn't deserve her affections, but that didn't stop him from wanting them.

"Mavis…" Zeref said as he paused. Beyond those doors were his generals. His blood-thirsty generals who would no doubt try to tear apart his innocent Mavis. "Maybe, we shouldn't."

"Shouldn't?" she wondered aloud.

"Yeah… you probably wouldn't like them anyway."

"Oh, Zeref I'm sure I would like them." Mavis said, smiling tightly. "I want to help all of you forget this silly endeavor. I want to help you all see that taking over the world isn't only an impossibility, but that it's not ideal either. I mean, who are you kidding?"  
"Those sorts of things are why I don't want you to meet them." Mavis raised a questioning eyebrow. "What I mean is, Mavis, you know I love you and everything about you, but my generals… some of them might not take kindly to the things you say. They will also probably disregard what you say because… well, because you're in the form of a child."

Mavis scowled and shook her head. "This is ridiculous!" she cried. "Just because I'm in the body of a child does not mean I am a child. And who cares anyway? If they don't like me, that's their problem but that shouldn't stop me from going in there and trying to do what's right! Even if it completely fails, I still have to try! Just like before, even though I knew there was almost no way to win the battle against you I still had hope! I still tried to think positive thoughts! In the end, my best wasn't enough but that's not going to stop me from trying to do my best every single time!"  
"I know, and it shouldn't stop you from doing your best. I just thought that maybe it wasn't the best idea because not only are you a child… you're a female child and you know that stereotypical little girls are supposedly high-strung and obnoxious." Mavis glared at him, daring him to continue. "I love you Mavis, but no one in there even knows your name!"

"Oh yeah? What does it matter? They know you! Just tell them to behave." Zeref sighed and nodded. Mavis was stubborn and once she got her mind set on something there was no stopping her.

"I guess there's no helping it then? Mavis shook her head and Zeref tried to smile but failed. His little fairy was helping, he could already feel the grief start to dissipate. It would never be gone, not fully, but Mavis really helped in taking away some of the pain. He really appreciated that. That was one of the reasons he would always love her.

"Alright, now let's go meet the generals." Mavis said happily, opening the door.

Inside the room, twelve people sat and instantly stood when Zeref entered the room, they bowed curtly. Zeref nodded, acknowledging them before they all sat down. "Spriggan." He said quietly, addressing his troops, "There is a new guest joining us today. I insist that you treat her the same way you would treat me."

The Spriggan all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. If the emperor willed it then who were they to disagree? "Hello," Mavis said, "My name's Mavis, and I'm here to make sure that this world doesn't get taken over by you insane dictators." They all raised an eyebrow, no doubt wondering why Zeref allowed her in the airship and the meeting room in the first place.

"I know you're all wondering who this woman is, and why I would let her on my ship despite her disagreeing with my methods." Everyone nodded. "Well, you see, this woman here is the love of my life. I've loved her ever since meeting her and I will love her forevermore. So, know this, if any of you harms her in any way, know that no matter who you are I will kill you." Zeref said, his eyes flashing red for a mere instant before turning back to its original somber black color. "Do you understand?"

All the soldiers nodded very quickly. Powerful they may be, but the red eyes meant business. Zeref could remain as passive as he desired but they eyes never lied. If those eyes turned red someone could very well be about to die. "Good, now then, down to business. Mavis, I know you wish to have objections to nearly everything I say, but please do refrain until I finish speaking, because if you were to interrupt every few minutes this meaning would take forever."

Mavis was not happy about this but accepted it nonetheless and begrudgingly nodded in affirmation. She would not interrupt with her morals until Zeref had explained everything. Probably so he could patronizingly shoot down all her suggestions. Just the thought made her shake with irritation.

"Alright, now that the main threat, Fiore is out of the way, the next threat that needs to be eliminated is Minstrel." Zeref said, setting his hands on the table.

"What's our formation?"

"The same as it was when attacking Fiore. Here are all the battle plans laid out. The strongest guild, and how to take them down. Though, since Fairytail is defeated it's doubtful there's a problem." His generals seemed to agree, but then again, Zeref's plan didn't have too many flaws to begin with so it wasn't like his generals often disagreed with him on those matters.

As far as meetings to destroy a country went, this one was fairly short. "Now then, I know you're dying to say something Mavis, so go ahead and say it." Zeref said, after he was done explaining the entire plan to his troops.

Mavis had the urge to grumble, "finally" but she didn't. "Thank you." Mavis said softly, before turning her attention to all the soldiers in the room. She knew that whatever message she had would most likely not get through to them, but she had to try. No matter how small the percentage was. "You see… I know you all are smart enough to know that killing people is wrong." Mavis said. "I know that most of you, don't care. But, you should! Because these are real people and they have real lives! You've probably all lost somebody, there's no doubt in my mind that you have. And knowing what it feels like to lose somebody you love, how can you put someone else through that pain! How? I, myself, have lost people. I lost my entire family to you and your army just a few hours ago. The grief will never completely stop. So, don't rob others of their lives. Let them live another day, so that they can be happy."

Mavis thought, from the looks in all their eyes that perhaps, even if it wasn't enough to change their mind, she had planted some self-doubt in their minds, and that was enough for now. "Wonderful speech, Mavis." Zeref said. Though his tone was flat and his eyes blank, Mavis knew that he was mocking her on the inside. "But in the course of my life, what does it matter?" Zeref wondered. "These people are nothing, they deserve to be treated as such."

"No, they don't! They're innocent people, they don't deserve to die! No one deserves to die, not even you!" Mavis extended a hand and touched his shoulder.

She could see in Zeref's eyes that he tried not to, but he jerked away regardless. The moment the action was completed he stared guiltily up at her, but Mavis didn't blame him. She'd only lived with the curse for a year and her reaction to another being's touch was to still flinch. Zeref had lived with it for centuries, it was only natural that after all these years, shying away from human touch was a reflex.

"Ah, sorry…" Zeref said. "You just startled me. Anyway… what was I saying?"

"You were saying something about how mortals deserve to die?"

"Yes, I suppose I was… now then, I suppose I should continue. In the end, human beings are a disease. They cannot be taught to help the world, so they must be destroyed. A new generation will be born, a generation that can be taught to help mother nature at all costs. A world without famine, or war. Don't you see, Mavis? Everyone, for years, has been contemplating on how to achieve world peace. Recently, they've concluded that such an ideal cannot be reached, but I shall prove them wrong. They were mortal… they weren't willing to risk their lives, or anyone else's. What those stupid humans can't see is that their must be war before there is peace."

"It's too much! You have to think Zeref, does the gain outweigh the cost."

"By a million…" Zeref said, his eyes glittering maliciously.

Mavis could only stare sadly at the boy, "I never will change you, will I?"

"You can't change someone who doesn't wish to be changed."

"I don't understand." She whispered, tears willing themselves to her eyes. "Why don't you want to change? What's gotten into you! The Zeref I remember would never have wanted world domination."

"People don't often change, Mavis. Perhaps I have changed because I've had 400 years to do so. Perhaps, I've not changed at all, and this has been inside me all along…"

Mavis could only stare at him. She had a million things to say to him, a million names to call him (not all were nice… none of them were nice), but she didn't say any of it. Because everyone else was in the room too. She could not talk to him freely until they all left.

Thankfully, Zeref seemed to be done with listening to her reasons, "Alright, this meeting is over, there's nothing more to discuss. Now leave so that you have time to prepare before we land."

"Yes sir!" the generals cried, leaving.

Zeref sat back down in his chair at the head of the table. He knew that this war would not be easy, because soon the nations would realize that they had not just declared war on Fiore, but on the entire world. And soon, even enemy nations would be teaming up to defeat him. People did a lot of stupid things, when they were desperate. Zeref had only ever been desperate enough to do something stupid once. And he still, stupidly, did not regret it. "After this, we're returning to our home country, Alverez. There won't be enough supplies left to defeat another nation, so we'll have to return. At that point, it's probably likely that all nations have cut off trades with Alverez, but that's alright. We've been rationing for years for this moment. The moment our dreams are reality."

"Zeref, this dream of yours is ridiculous. Do you even realize the full extent of what you're doing?"

"It doesn't matter, Mavis. It doesn't matter if I understand, it's what I will do, and no one can stop me. Not even your precious fairies could stop me, so there's no one left now."

"There's still Acnologia, and since you don't have your immortality anymore, it's likely he'll defeat you."

Zeref scoffed, "My dear Mavis, do you honestly think I'm so stupid that I have not already originated a failproof plan for defeating that little problem?"

Mavis stared at him blankly, "Yes, actually, I do."

"I see, well that hurts. But you make a valid point. I do have a plan for stopping him, however it is… not failproof as I said. In fact, I need you for this."

Mavis wrinkled her nose, "So this is why you kept me around. The secret's out. You only kept me so that you could use me to help you with your only problem left. Well, sorry buddy, that is not happening!" Zeref frowned,

"No, my love, you don't understand. I've known from the very start that you would be a great asset to me, but I still love you. You're the only useless mortal that I would spare. Because the way you love this Earth, well, you're not useless anymore then."

"I just… I just can't… what do you want from me! After I help you get rid of the dragon, I'm no use to you anymore. What your spouting now, they are lies to get me to do your bidding without realizing that after I help you, I will be tossed aside like another one of your useless mortals!"

"Mavis, you mean more to me than anything in the world!"

"Even this project of yours?"

Zeref hesitated and that pause was all Mavis needed to know which one he'd pick, if given a choice. "Fine," Zeref said quietly. "If you do not believe that I will keep you with me simply because I love you, then I will tell you of another use you have."

"What?" Mavis asked flatly.

"Well, I can't simply repopulate the Earth myself." He said.

It took a few moments for what he said to actually sink in, "What!" she screeched, backing away from him. "I… I'm not gonna do… do THAT with you!"

"Mavis, my love, I would never force you to do anything. It's just a simple fact because, well… I'm certain that I can make you fall in love with me. To the point where you will help me with my goals."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed, I am quite confident that I can do so."

Mavis rolled her eyes, she couldn't help it. The nonsense he kept speaking was absurd. Just what kind of fool did he take her for? "Yeah, alright, hotshot, then how long do you have, because I'm not going to sit around forever, while you try to make me love you."

"Well…" Zeref said, "Do you mean I have a time limit. That I only have so much time to make you love me?"

"Precisely." Mavis said, there wasn't much to say other than that. Zeref bit his lip in contemplation,

"How long would you be absolutely against?"

"Until we die, infinity, anything along those lines."

"Is that so? Alright then, I've got until the end of the world to make you love me."

"Yeah right, that's counted as an 'until we die' sort of thing. The end of the world isn't going to be for a long time yet."

"Oh, Mavis, you always were rather forgetful." Mavis glared at him,

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"Mavis, the war that's going on right now, once it's finished it will be the end of our world, one way or another." Mavis realized very quickly that he was, indeed, correct.

"You're right, the end of the world is upon us… how could you do that to us? How could you doom us all?"

"Half of the time, it is unclear to me why, but I know this, in the end, the world crumbles. We're helping them, Mavis. One day, they would all die, but I will ensure our survival. Even if I'm mortal now, that will still be so. Even if, in the end our world crumbles, we will still live on. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Mavis said. Zeref reached forward and gently grabbed her face. Mavis felt the faint urge to flinch away and to tell him, that if he didn't want to die, not to come any closer. But she beat down this urge and, in the end, she only winced slightly.

"I always keep my promises, love." He whispered. "I promised I would bring back my brother. I did it. I promised that I would love you always. I still do. I promised that I would defeat Fiore. They are beaten. I promised myself that I would always keep my promises, and that promise has been fulfilled up until now. So now I promise to change the world by destroying it, and I promise to protect you from it." Zeref leaned in and for a moment, Mavis thought he might kiss her lips, but they touched her forehead instead. Mavis felt her cheeks flush red and convinced herself that it was from his body heat. "And now, my latest promise, I promise that I will earn your love and be worthy of it." Mavis thought he was already worthy, that anyone was always worthy of another being's love. It was just their choice whether to give it or not. She clutched his robes tightly and slowly looked up to meet his gaze.

"Fine, I agree." She whispered. "You have until the end of the world to make me fall in love with you." Zeref didn't smile, but he did hold her for a heartbeat longer before letting go.

Stepping away he said, "We're almost to Minstrel." Zeref turned his head to peer out the window. "I have to go command my troops."

She nodded in understanding, "Then go. Go do your despicable deeds."

"I will…" he took long strides to the door and looked back at her one last time before closing it. "I will ask again, my fairy, at the end of the world."

The door closed behind him and Mavis was left, her feelings mixed until she couldn't tell one emotion apart from it's opposite. The ship landed, jostling Mavis around, because she wasn't sitting, she fell to the floor and, watched as the hatch to the airship opened. Zeref and his troops exited the open door and Mavis saw them through the large window at the front of their apparent "meeting room".

Mavis pursed her lips, soon remembering who she was, what he'd done, and what he was about to do. Again, resentment built in her heart. Soon, the Alverez troops had disappeared into the city. Screams, and blasts of magic sounded from within. Mavis could hear them, even from the safety of the ship. "Until the end of the world…" she whispered quietly, pulling away from the window. She snorted humorlessly, "There's no way in hell I'm going to love him by the end of the world. But fine, I'll play your game, Zeref. Until the end of the world, I'll be waiting."

* * *

 **A/N Okay, so I've decided to continue this because I am interested in this oneshot. I've decided to do this because the creative prompt I read was truly good and spoke to me, and not completing it has left me feeling... I don't know, like this is an unfinished work. Plus, I didn't realize that this fic would get a single review and was content with people reading it. But, I have gotten 2 reviews since posting this and I wanted to thank you guys, i think it's safe to say this was my most popular "oneshot" fic. So, I hope you like this chapter as well and reviews/favorites/follows are always welcome so feel free to tell me what you think. This will hopefully be updated again next week. I already have an outline for it, but I'd be lying if I said that I would follow it... I think this fic will be under 10 chapters but... we'll see. So, thanks for reading and I will see you next week, goodbye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone for your reviews, follows, and favorites, and reads!**

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Zeref commanded his troops from the back, telling them where to go. Heart-wrenching screams filled his ears but Zeref ignored them. These parasites deserved to be wiped out.

 _No, they don't! They're innocent people, they don't deserve to die! No one deserves to die, not even you!_

Zeref's mind was filled with her words. He was instantly disgusted with himself, he was only remembering her words because they were hers, not because of the meaning they held. Zeref would never be swayed by any words. This was what he'd dreamed of for so long, he wasn't going to give it up. Not even for her.

"Your majesty," Invel said, walking up to him, "What are you thinking about?" Zeref barely glanced at his general.

"What do you think I'm thinking about?"

"It's about that girl, isn't it?" Zeref's expression darkened slightly, but not to the point where it was noticeable. Zeref had trained himself never to show emotion to anyone, not even Mavis could read him any longer. Zeref wondered why he was saddened by such a reason.

"I suppose I am." Zeref said. "Why?"

"Well… I just happened to hear your conversation and-."

"You were eavesdropping." Zeref interrupted. Invel's expression didn't change and he nodded mutely.

"I suppose I was, but you can hardly blame me. His majesty is no longer immortal, and he brings a strange girl on to the airship. What if she's trying to kill you?"

Zeref didn't give much thought on the matter. He knew that no matter what Mavis said she couldn't kill him. She could wish him dead all she liked, but she couldn't kill him. "She wants me dead, but she won't do the deed herself. All she can do is sit back and hope someone gets a lucky shot. Doubtful, but I can see it happening on an unlucky day."

"I see… sire, you say she wants you dead but, in the meeting room-."

"I told her I was going to make her fall in love with me. Yes, Invel, I recall."

"Well… how do you plan on that happening?" Zeref finally faced Invel his dull eyes sharpening.

"Ah, you finally ask an interesting question. Tell me, Invel, do you know why the question you just asked is so amusing?"

"No, your majesty, I don't." Invel said.

"Well, it's interesting because I don't know." Invel raised an eyebrow.

"You… don't know." Zeref giggled insanely,

"No, no clue." His laughter increased slightly. Invel knew this would only cause his emperor further amusement, but Invel had the urge to take a few steps back from the laughing man who seemed to have no reason to laugh. "I mean, there's no formula to love, is there? Believe me, if there was, I would've already found it."

"So, you're not going to do anything? You're just going to wait for her to magically fall in love with you?"

Instantly, Zeref's laughter stopped and he straightened up. "No, not quite, general. I never said I wasn't going to do anything, I merely meant that I had no plan. If she falls in love with me, then she does, if not, the world will end regardless, and I will be in the center of it… Mavis, she… I love her, I really do. But she's a problem, a miscalculation, a mistake on my part. She was supposed to die, they all were. Mavis is the most important girl in my life, but she's never been my top priority. She never will. In the end, she's human. In the end, we're all human, and humans, they make mistakes. A perfect world cannot be created while imperfect beings walk the surface of it."

"So, are you saying that you'll give up?"

"Oh, no." Zeref said shaking his head. "I made a promise that I intend to keep. I will make beings, beings that look much like humans, but they are different. They are perfect."

"But you're human as well. How can imperfection create perfection?" Zeref sighed a small sigh, as if explaining his genius plans was the most exhausting thing in the world. "Listen, Invel. It is far too complicated to explain to you. So, you go do your job and I shall do mine in return."

Invel stayed for a moment longer before bowing, "Yes, my lord." He said quietly, and then slowly walked back to his troops, to give more orders. Zeref, meanwhile, was irritated at Invel asking so many questions. Invel used to just trust him unconditionally. There was no need for questions, Zeref gave his orders, and his orders were completed.

Regardless, what Zeref had told Invel was the truth. Mavis was the most important person in the world to him, but he had other things to do. There were things that needed to be completed, things such as saving the world from itself. Gaining Mavis's love and affections would always take a back seat to that ideal.

Especially since she obviously didn't care about him. Just what did she mean anyway? She'd yelled at him and told him he was wrong. Said she didn't love him, that she would kill him. Then, every time he came close that adorable blush would creep up on to her cheeks and Zeref would be left more confused than ever. Because she would allow him to get close, allow him to kiss her. But her words made no sense. Like when he had told her that he could not repopulate the Earth by himself and she had screamed at him that she would not do THAT with him. What had she meant? Zeref had thought she'd be happy to help him with his perfect beings, because she loved learning, regardless of why she was learning. But apparently, this time, that was not the case. And she'd been so adamant about it that Zeref felt he'd gotten her entire character wrong. It made him clench his teeth and feel like tearing his hair out. In fact, despite how unrefined it would be, Zeref had the slight urge to walk up to her and yell, "What do you want from me, woman!" but he knew that he would not.

Zeref had never had it in him to yell at anyone. But, then again, he'd never needed to yell to gain someone's attention. One flash of red eyes told anyone all they needed to know. That he was dangerous, and that he wasn't afraid to show it.

As the battle continued, Zeref started walking through the streets. Tens of thousands of people lay dead at his feet, but through the sight of all those bodies Zeref didn't even bat an eyelash. None of these deaths mattered to him.

The further he walked into the city, the more stragglers there were. Zeref didn't bother to destroy them. They would die soon enough. He knew that even after attacking every country there'd still be humans left, stragglers, like these. Those were to be the victims of his ultimate weapon. They didn't call him a genius for nothing. This device detected human life sources, it was extremely potent and could probably operate from one vantage point and he would be able to see all the humans left in the world. However, this device was very fragile, it could overload easily. Meaning, that he would first have to wipe out most of the population. That was why this war was necessary. The device was meant for stragglers, nothing more.

He watched as people ran, darting corner after corner, thinking they could escape, when in the end it was impossible. A few attacked him as he strolled by, but Zeref didn't blame them. He wore the Alverez crest, it only made sense that they would do such a thing. If only they'd known the terrible end that awaited them, they might have stayed hidden.

Zeref saw many, hunched over fallen figures, sobbing their hearts out. Zeref ended their misery. "Honestly, I'm a little too kind to these useless mortals." Zeref said when he killed a man who had been hunched over a fallen woman. Presumably his wife, or something along those lines. Then, he continued on, ending others as he went. At the moment he was making his way to the most powerful guild in the region which were the self-proclaimed "rulers" of this despicable country. Once they were taken out all the citizens and other guilds would soon submit, hoping that their surrender would elicit some form of sympathy and the rest would be spared. Only, they would soon learn that no such mercy existed. Not when Zeref was involved. In his mind, the only mercy he could give them was a quick and painless death, which would be no doubt harder to give now that his curse was gone.

Still, he supposed he could grant them that, if they did indeed surrender. There was no point in prolonging a life that could very well destroy the planet… well, destroy it for good, anyway.

He happened upon other people that he doubtlessly killed, all the way to the last human. The last two humans. (the last two straggler humans anyway) Zeref didn't go out of his way to kill the stragglers, but if they simply sat there, they couldn't possibly expect him to let them live. Zeref could tell they were both alive, yet one was about to die. Two boys, they appeared to be about the same age, the fallen one looked younger, but perhaps that was only because his fallen figure seemed so small when compared to the vastness of the universe.

"No, I don't care if it puts you out of your misery… I can't kill you." the first boy said.

"Please… it hurts, I can't be saved, I know I can't. Please kill me, I'm begging you." Zeref felt his heart soften, if only because the two reminded him. But then again, many things reminded him of many things. That was what happened when you lived for so long.

"What's going on here?" Zeref inquired, softly, walking up to them, as if he couldn't see exactly what was happening. It didn't take a genius to figure it out, but still, Zeref asked anyway, as a formality.

"Are you blind." The first boy spat bitterly. He no doubt saw the Alverez crest that he bore. What should've surprised Zeref, but didn't, was that the boy did not lash out at him.

"Well then, may I ask what happened, child."

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

"I would indeed." Apparently, the boy decided that he had nothing else to lose, not even his own life warranted as anything other than unimportant. Not when compared to the death of the other boy.

"I'm not a child. I'm eighteen." He spat instead. "And you're as old as I am, if not younger." Zeref did not answer this insult and kept staring into the other's eyes. "If you must know, one of the Alverez soldiers cut him down. Viciously, without mercy. I wonder if they're even human."

"Perhaps they're simply following orders. Perhaps, the person in charge should be blamed for the loss of all these lives."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, now he asks me to kill him, but I can't… he's my brother! What kind of monster could kill his own brother!"

Zeref shrugged. "I don't know, but they'd have to be rather awful, wouldn't they?" the boy didn't answer.

"I don't want him to die… but he will, and because I can't deliver the final blow, he's suffering. It's all my fault. If I could've just protected him… that's my job, as his older brother. But what use am I, if I can't even end his suffering?"

"It's quite alright." Zeref said, his voice free of sorrow. It was not a soothing or reassuring tone, but a tone one took when something was a fact. Memories of saying the exact same things flitted inside Zeref's mind. Of feeling useless, and incapable. Only there had been no one to tell him it would be alright. And there had been no one to end his suffering. And he had been too much of a coward to do it himself. "I will end his suffering. Both your suffering."

He might've let them live. Might've let them spend the few precious weeks they had left on this Earth together. Only, he had nothing to help with it. Healing magic had never been an art he practiced, it was too absurd, with his curse. In fact, if he'd tried to heal anyone the curse would probably interpret that as caring and kill that person anyway. So, Zeref never learned it, it was too pure a magic to grace his being. The boy stared at him wide-eyed, but he didn't run. No one ever did. Every nerve in his body probably told him to flee, that if he stayed any longer then he would die, a natural survival instinct. But the ones who had nothing left. The ones who felt the glass shards. Those were the ones who stayed and died. Because to them, anything was better than the cutting.

And to Zeref anything was better than living in a world where humans made the same mistakes over and over. Because unlike the one he was to kill, he had something to live for. He had a goal, and a purpose. He had someone he loved, and she was worth staying, for now. "May you reunite, elsewhere." Zeref's heart, the one that had softened just a smidge, hardened back up again, causing an immense pain in his chest. A crippling pain that he had long since learned to ignore.

"I am far too nice…" Zeref said, staring at the two, the ones that had been breathing moments ago. He bore their souls too. Another two souls, deaths caused by him, added to the nightmares. Now they were glass too, digging constantly away at him.. These shards would never be satisfied. Not until his heart beat no more, or until he was broken completely, whichever came first. And at this rate, Zeref would rather die than break. Not again, he'd spent too long piecing himself together. It wouldn't be fair, to break again after he'd tried so hard to be okay. But then again, nothing in this life was ever fair.

He reached the largest, most powerful guild in the middle of the burning city without any more incident and stood at the threshold, staring unblinkingly at the large doors. No doubt they were barred shut, the people inside, huddling fearfully together. Humans were despicable. They feared death, they all did, even though it was life they should be afraid of.

Because what they didn't understand like he did, was that it was more painful to live every day with the burdens of others to carry on your shoulders than to simply die. Because when death came everything was over, but with life the pain was carried… every day.

Zeref raised his hand, magic sparking on his fingertips. He could wait for his army to arrive, so they could break down the door, but Zeref was through with being patient. He wanted this to end now. He'd waited 400 years for these moments. He believed that he was entitled to feel a little impatient after so long. He felt power build up within him until he let it burst from his hands, engulfing the door in powerful gusts of fire. It took a few minutes, but soon, the large doors couldn't take it anymore and burst open from the sheer force of all his magic. The doors were opened now and Zeref walked up the rest of the stairs leading into the building. There, he saw what must've been a hundred people, standing with weapons and readying their magic. Some coward but most stood tall, determination on their faces. Utter stupidity. They'd never be able to hit him, though Zeref had to make sure he wasn't sloppy. It was hard to remember that he wasn't immortal anymore. Not when he'd been that way for over 4 centuries. So, Zeref considered asking them how they wished to die, but then figured that would be cruel. "Charge!" what he presumed to be the leader cried and with that, he rushed forward along with several others. Zeref weaved through them, taking them out as he went. Once he downed them all he'd kill them.

He made quick work of the remaining wizards, until their bodies laid scattered at his feet, and Zeref was the only one left standing. Now, it was time to kill them, and Zeref hesitated, he didn't want to but, he couldn't help it. Every single time he ended a life he hesitated, and even if it only delayed him a few seconds, it left him more and more annoyed each time it happened.

Zeref let his magic do it's work and within a few minutes everyone in the guild hall was dead. Everything, once more, was silent. Now that was how it always was when Zeref left an area. There were times when he'd grow tired of the silence, but in the end that was how it always was, so he'd gotten used to it a very long time ago.

Soon, the rest of his army arrived, "We've wiped out the village and the other guilds." His soldiers told him. Zeref nodded in understanding,

"Good, and since the leader guild has been wiped out, I believe it's safe to say that we've defeated Minstrel and it is time to return to our kingdom. His army all nodded their heads and murmured their agreement. After all, in their minds their emperor was rarely wrong. Only Zeref knew what they didn't. Knew that most of the time he was wrong, perhaps not in the sense that what he said was incorrect, but that what he did was morally incorrect.

Zeref, after all, was no fool. He was quite aware that almost everything he did would be considered "morally incorrect" by human standards.

Fortunately, or fortunately for him anyway, Zeref did not bother with human standards. If people wished to see him as inhumane then they could do as they see fit. After all, inhumane was just another restriction meant to separate others into categories. Honestly, Zeref didn't see the point in such a thing. In the end, they were all human, they'd all had a part to play, and they'd all failed. What else really mattered?

"Let's move out, there may be stragglers, but to be honest, I don't care much for them. If you see any, kill them, if not, don't go searching for them. The second part of my plan will take care of them."

No one but he, knew the second part of his plan. If someone did know, his plan could be utterly destroyed. He didn't think any of his army would be disloyal, but they were all human. And as Zeref had learned a long time ago, with humans, you never can tell.

As he and his troops marched out of the city, several times, figures darting between alleys caught his eye, but Zeref did not pursue them. They were unimportant and could be dealt with later. "Where are we going next, your majesty?" Invel asked.

Zeref, in annoyance, thought, "Again with the questions." But what he said was, "After we make our trip back to Alverez I figured we could take on the Pargrande Kingdom. They are the largest nation and therefore, I've decided to take them out next. Doubtless they have a large army full of skilled wizards. It won't be as easy as defeating Minstrel, rest assured. But, since Fiore is out of the way, as is Fairytail, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't be able to handle it."

"So, it's not a threat?"

"What I'm saying, is that we should be able to defeat them, but not if we sit idly by while they contact other nations to join forces. Alliances take time, but if we allow ourselves to get cocky, then our goal shall never be reached! Do you want that?"

"Um… no sire, of course not. I want your dream to be reached, no matter the costs. I am willing to die, if it means serving you until the very end."

Zeref nodded in agreement. Of course, Zeref had no doubt this was the case. As for if he was willing to die, in the end it didn't matter. Because in the end, if Zeref got his way, then everyone would be dead. "Good, that's the devotion I need for this plan of mine to succeed. Anything less and nothing would get done."

Invel frowned slightly, nothing less than dying? But dying for this dream of his emperor was the ultimate sacrifice, what else could he do? He may not know what was on the emperor's mind, but he didn't think anyone really did. "If that's how you feel, then I will always be willing to die for this dream." Invel told that little white lie. It wasn't truly a lie, but the thing was, it wasn't the dream he'd died for. It was the man dreaming it.

"I see. Then let's continue on until this dream is reached." Zeref smirked slightly at the notion.

Finally, they reached the airship and Zeref organized them as they moved on to the airship. Honestly, if Zeref wasn't there to organize all of them then there'd be complete chaos. Humans were so prone to self-destruct it was ridiculous. It was almost amusing, how quickly humans would fall apart without someone to lead them in the right direction.

Zeref entered last and through the front window of the meeting room he could see Mavis's piercing green eyes staring at him. They gave Zeref pause, he could see anger and something akin to hatred glowing there. Zeref blinked as he stared at those eyes, feeling his heart rate start to pick up. Despite wishing he didn't, he knew why she looked at him like that. It was because of his dream. He was losing the one he loved because of his aspirations.

Zeref could only stare at those eyes and from how deeply hurt they looked Zeref doubted he could simply gain her love. He'd shown her that his dream was more important than she was, and what was the problem with that? It was simply the truth.

But Zeref realized then that it was very possible that he couldn't keep both promises he made. It was highly likely that he would have to trade one for the other. And unfortunately, Zeref knew what he would choose.

In the end, he was selfish. And in the end, he would choose himself over anyone else. Even reviving Natsu was not completely selfless. He had decided to go through resurrection because he couldn't stand to be alone. But the concluding results were that his own selfish loneliness had caused the end of world.

But as he'd said, he'd never regretted it. Because Natsu was worth it.

So, Zeref eventually turned away from her and continued climbing the stairs to the main entrance. He knew that action was unforgivable, but if it was, then so be it.

He loved Mavis, he wanted her to love him, but not at the cost of his only goal in this world. Before he left, he wanted to give this world something. A gift really. These mortals who hadn't lived even half as long as he had, did not understand. They could never understand just how good this was for the world. Because their lives were so short, they could not see the big picture…

The entrance to the airship closed shortly after he had entered and Zeref decided he might as well go congratulate his army on a battle well fought. He did not particularly want to, but he'd heard that it was natural and necessary for mortals who felt deserving, to be praised.

So, he went looking for Mavis, congratulating anyone who he happened to pass. Zeref could see that all soldiers looked a little happier after he'd complimented, to which Zeref had no complaints. Happy soldiers made loyal soldiers.

Zeref decided to first look in the meeting room, where he saw her last and sure enough, she stood there with her arms crossed, still staring out the window at the country which burned. They'd fought all day, even though his soldiers had secretly been whittling away at the country for months, destroying towns in secret. Still, Minstrel could hardly link the attacks back to Alverez considering the country was so violent and chaotic already.

The battle with Fiore had taken months, so Zeref could appreciate a swift victory. Pargrande, however, would take months to conquer, maybe even a year, but after it fell the other countries were about a third of it's side. And considering the Alverez army was so humongous, he'd have the rest of the countries destroyed within a few months' time. "You're back." Mavis said. She didn't sound bitter or resentful, but she most certainly did not sound happy either. She didn't even turn to look at him, "How many did you kill?" Zeref's eyes were impassive and gave nothing away, though on the inside his gut was churning. He didn't wish to tell her.

"I don't know." He lied. He knew exactly how many he'd killed, and their faces would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life, no matter how short or long.

Her fists clenched tighter, "All those innocent people… how can you live with yourself?"

Zeref tried not to think about it. He didn't directly answer her question, merely shook his head. "Who died and made you God?" she cried, whirling around, grabbing his collar, and pulling him closer. "Why are you so twisted? I don't get it!"

"Perhaps it's something you aren't meant to understand." He said quietly.

"Stop with all the philosophical crap!" she screamed. "I don't get it now, but I want to understand if you'd just tell me! What secrets are you keeping! Why won't you tell me?"

"… If I told you, you would think me insane."

"I already think you insane! You're acting like a fanatic… like a fanatic on drugs! What's your deal? Can't you trust me?"

"No, I have no reason to trust you. After all, I know you're plotting to kill me."

"Bull! You know I could never do it. You'd use it against me too, if I gave you the opportunity! When did you become like this? What caused it? Was it my fault?"

Zeref bit his lip. Mavis's pleading eyes made him want to explode and tell her every single detail that he'd ever thought in his entire life like some kind of blabber-mouth. "I…" Zeref closed his eyes, already deciding to tell her. The only problem was he wasn't sure where to start. "I don't know." He whispered. "There were a lot of variables, a lot of things that happened. I wouldn't know where to start. You see, there's no single event that caused this. It started when I was young all the way up until 5 minutes ago. I can't do it for much longer. Mavis, I don't want to live in this world anymore."

"Then don't." Mavis said.

"Are you encouraging me to commit suicide?" Zeref asked, allowing his eyes to flash hurt. Mavis didn't answer for a while but finally said,

"I only want what's best for this world. What's best for the world is that you don't succeed. I do not wish you to die, but I can't deny it would make everything easier."

"I see… I suppose, I really am hated." Zeref had hoped that perhaps Mavis still had some hope left for him, but apparently, she thought he'd be better off dead. And if she had no hope for him, then it was fairly obvious that there was no hope to begin with.

"Zeref, that's not… that's not." Mavis tried and failed to put what she was thinking into words. The only reason Zeref found for why she was stuttering was that what he'd said was true.

Zeref stood up and started walking away, unable to believe it. Was his dream worth it? Zeref grew slightly angry, an emotion that had died a while ago, but here it resurfaced. This girl was making him second-guess himself!

But he reminded himself that she wasn't just, "this girl" she was Mavis. And there was no need for contradiction within himself anymore.

"Zeref!" Mavis cried, she reached out and grabbed his hands. He turned to her,

"What?" he asked. Mavis's eyes burned as they stared into his.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered finally. Zeref felt her grip tighten on his fingers making him flinch slightly. "What I said came out the wrong way… I didn't mean it like that."

"Well obviously if you didn't mean it that way, then it wouldn't have come out that way." Zeref reasoned, not foolish enough to believe that age-old trick that had fooled countless others. "That is just something people say to cover up their mistakes and spare someone's feelings. But it's alright, Mavis. You don't need to spare my feelings. I promise I will survive."

"Would you just shut up? By your philosophy I'm supposed to mean what I say. So, if I say that I'm sorry, that means I'm truly sorry."

Zeref did not believe that statement for a minute, but he stayed silent, building the illusion that he had no arguments when inside his head, a million comebacks came to him. None of them needed to be said, however. For Zeref was content to pretend he agreed with this statement.

"So, don't walk away. My intention was not to make you upset. It was to learn why you are doing this. I know you think mortals are "unworthy" or something like that, but that can't possibly be the only reason. You're not shallow as that."

Zeref couldn't help but feel that anything she deemed "inhumane" no matter what reasons he gave, would be perceived as shallow. "You wish to know why I do this?"

How could Zeref possibly answer that when he didn't even know himself. Zeref had long-since forgotten exactly why he set out to do this. He only remembered that he felt extreme resentment towards all living things. For rejecting him, for refusing to learn from their mistakes, for allowing petty disagreements transform into something that was necessary to solve by going to war and killing innocents. Well, Zeref had learned a long time ago, that no human being was innocent, and he saw why they deserved to be exterminated. "I don't have another reason, other then the fact that I very simply despise them."

"Tell me that's a cruel joke."

"It isn't." Zeref said, and he did not bother lying. "Mavis, be thankful you have not lived as long as I. It is still possible for you to see the light in humanity. I have long-since lost hope for it. You have not seen the war and famine that I have. You have not seen the cruel acts people will commit for their own gain. You have not seen your projects, created out of love, be turned into something evil by some stupid mortal. You have not been rejected as I. You have not been resented as I. And even in all the hatred, the wrong, the horror, I am still somehow the evilest being on the face of the Earth. Murders committed in my name, cities destroyed for my praise, evil people bowing at my feet, telling me that I am some sort of inspiration."

Zeref sneered in disgust, "Rumors so twisted that facts hardly play a part in the modern world. It's despicable. They all said I was evil, an inspiration for all who murder, and enslave, and steal, and lie. I'm the evilest wizard in the world, and had I continued to live I would destroy the world. Well Mavis…" Zeref chuckled though it was cold, "I decided to live up to the rumors. I decided to become the inspiration that everyone so desired."

"You're completely insane. Just because people make things up doesn't mean that you have to acknowledge what they say, nor does it mean you should decide to prove those people right. The only thing that matters, is that the people who truly care about you, know that you are not all the things they say you are. I know rumors can be twisted, I understand. But they don't know you. Only the people who care about you do. They are all that matter."

"And what people would those be?" Zeref wondered dryly. Mavis stared at him sorrowfully,

"Me, I care about you." She said. Zeref almost couldn't believe what he'd just heard,

"What?" he inquired, just to make sure he'd heard right.

"I care about you." She said again. "So, stop this foolish endeavor, and maybe I can help you. I _want_ to help you Zeref. And I _will_ help you, if you let me."

Zeref licked his lips and glanced down at his feet, but as this action was taken, Zeref accidentally caught a glimpse of her face. Looking into her emeralds was one of the worst decisions he'd ever made. "I… I'll think about it." He said. He could tell that was not the answer she had really been looking for, but she took it regardless. Slowly, a smile crossed her face, making color rise to Zeref's face. He shouldn't really be blushing like some horny teenage girl, but he supposed Mavis had that effect on him. "P-please…" he whispered quietly. She cocked her head in inquiry. "Allow me to embrace you."

To say she was surprised was a bit of understatement. Zeref watched her mouth drop open and her eyes widen slightly. Zeref could understand why as well. Even without the curse it was rare of him to indulge physical touch. In fact, most of the time, instead of making him feel warm and fuzzy like what he heard hugs were supposed to do, they made him feel rather numb. "Uh… yeah, sure, go ahead." Her easy-going answer should've made him relax, but if anything, it actually made him more nervous. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her small frame, and as he did so Zeref could feel her heart-rate pick up, which was ideal, because if it hadn't then she might've noticed his, and that would not do. Saying that he loved her was easy, they were just words. But if she knew how much she actually meant to him…

He loved her, he really did, but he also hated her as well. He'd always bore some resentment towards her after their kiss in the forest, when she had died so easily and left him all alone. He felt betrayed, used, and broken. But he'd never told her any of this, he knew he never would, not even as he lay dying. There were a lot of things about him that she could never know. She could never know exactly how much she meant to him. She could never know that she was one of the only reasons he still wanted to live.

She could never know how broken he truly was, never know that he still cried sometimes. She could never know just how torturous the glass was. She would never understand how deep his hatred for humanity went. She would never know just how twisted he was. She would never know the people that haunted his dreams. She would never know he woke up screaming, nor would she know just how many people he'd killed over the centuries.

She would never know that he was helpless, drowning on the inside, drowning within the shards of glass. She would never know how much he missed them, all of them, all the ones who died. She would never know how much he cared for his brother, no one truly could. And she would never know how much he cared for this world.

And as he embraced her, he convinced himself never to say these things. They were things she could never know about him, no matter what. She would never know this, she would never know how much he hated her. And even though it seemed cowardice, he knew that he would never be prepared to tell her how much he loved her either.

* * *

 **A/N So, I said I wasn't updating until next week... well, technically it's next week. I've been working on this chapter for a while and it's a VERY long manuscript. I have reread it twice, once in my head, once out loud, but doubtlessly, there are still plenty of mistakes, so if that bothers you please tell me of all the mistakes you catch. I was a tiny bit nervous to post this chapter and even the last because some of the things that are said are my view points. For example, no one deserves to die. Plus, this has probably been the darkest fic I have written, but people seem to like it so I decided to continue it... Anyway, I hope this chapter has been enjoyable for you, this story is the one I'm truly focusing on right now so other fics might not update as frequently because it's going to take me a little while to actually generate ideas for this one. This story, also will probably be longer than I had thought, because now, looking at all the plot points, I think it could be over 10 chapters depending on how long I decide to make them. Some of this, mainly the last few paragraphs was from an original story I had been working on but I've kind of lost interest now. Originally it was supposed to be a series of 5 books and I was working on number 3, I'm not even a quarter of the way through it. The other 2 are still necessary for the story to be completed, but I don't think it will be finished any time soon. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and your thoughts/opinions are very helpful. As always reviews/follows/favorites are all appreciated and I hope to see you maybe Thursday or Friday! (I'm on break so I have a lot more time to work on my writing). Sorry for the long author's note, Bye!**


	4. Chapter 4

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ,**

 **Thanks to everyone who has supported and read this story. I have some warnings for this chapter. There is attempted suicide but no action is taken for they are stopped before anything can happen. If you are uncomfortable with this do not read any further! Now, on to the story,**

* * *

 **In Pargrande Kingdom**

Meanwhile, across Earthland, the king of Pargrande sat on his throne, in his castle, weary, "So, the Alverez empire is declaring war on the entire world?" The ruler of Pargrande asked.

The messenger nodded, "They've already destroyed Minstrel…" the king did not seem too concerned with that fact, Minstrel would be easy to destroy, if attacked. "And Fiore." The messenger added gravely. This caused him to pause, Fiore was a bit of a different matter. The king looked out the window, his expression changing slightly. Outside was the city below, bustling with people of all ages, shapes, sizes, and it hurt him to even _think_ about how desolate this beautiful city would look after war with Alverez. Finally he said,

"Fiore…" the king paused, "This might be a problem… I guess we'll have to shut them down as soon as possible."

"Sir… from what we can tell, they've been planning this for a long time."

"We're a bigger country!"

"They have a bigger military and… well, you know who the emperor of that nation is."

"So? He's a black wizard, he doesn't have what it takes to rule an empire!"

"But sire, he has been doing so for a hundred years." The king ran his fingers through his hair.

"I know…" he said, though he didn't want to admit it. That would mean that… that an evil mage had been ruling longer than he had. "Well, even if Minstrel was an easy country to destroy, they didn't go back to Alverez for supplies after attacking Fiore. That would mean they'd just be heading back now… we should try to attack them now, while they are regrouping." the king reasoned that if he didn't want his city to be destroyed then he'd have to take the war to Alverez's front gates. And, if they didn't start moving immediately there was no hope. Alverez would attack his country, and, while Pargrande was beautiful it wasn't built to be a fortress.

No doubt, however, that Alverez was built exactly like that. Problem was they had to come up with a strategy to defeat them first, and with how things were so busy in Pargrande already, he didn't think it was such a good idea to go to war. But what choice did they have?

"Go tell my soldiers to get on an airship, we're going to Alverez." the messenger nodded in understanding. "Oh, and we'll need to contact our neighbors for help. Even our enemies will probably help us take out this threat. It's fairly obvious that Alverez cannot be reasoned with. I had originally planned to stay out of this war, but there no helping it anymore. They have declared war on this world and we're apart of this world. Are you even following on exactly what I'm talking about?

"Yes, your majesty. They are going to declare war, wipe out all the countries so that the Black Wizard Zeref may rule as the supreme king of our world." The messenger said.

"No," the king said, "that's not it... they're going to wipe out all the countries alright. But, they're not doing it so that this Black Wizard can rule. They're going for world extermination. Haven't you heard the reports of mass devastation in both Minstrel and Fiore? Only a few survived, and those who did were not recruited by the army. If they were trying to rule the world then they would've beaten both countries into submission and then demanded supplies, resources, money, and recruits. But Fiore and Minstrel were utterly annihilated. It's world destruction they're going for, which is why it's even more imperative that we put a stop to all this madness. Can you contact other kingdoms? We must have a conference as soon as possible. And I don't care if it's in person or not, put them on a lacrima if you have to! In fact, that would be better because it would be quicker! Time is our enemy so we must strike now! Do you understand your tasks?"

"Yes sir! Get in conference with the other royals and send out troops to slow the Alverez army down!"

"Very good, now go! We've got work to do..."

* * *

 **In Alverez airship**

Mavis, after the hug had gone on too long to remain comfortable, carefully removed herself from his arms. Zeref stared down at her for a moment before taking a step back, clearing his throat. "You know, Mavis… I doubt you're going to directly help me destroy the world by giving me a strategy to defeat Pargrande."

"Of course not." she said.

"Then… will you help me repopulate the Earth? I know that you said no before but…" Mavis felt her face grow hot,

"No! Zeref, I'm sorry, but I do not want to have babies with you!" she cried.

Zeref blinked rather slowly. She hoped he didn't take it the wrong way and waited for his features to turn sad and his depressing speech about how the world rejected him to begin. No doubt he would find someway to turn her rejection into rejection from the world, considering that seemed to be his favorite pastime.

What she didn't expect was for his confusion to clear and a small smile to cross his face. A sound escaped his throat and it took longer than it should've for her to realize that he was laughing.

Not the cruel, insane laughter that sometimes emanated from him, but a soft kind of laughter. A normal kind of laughter, what laughter was supposed to sound like.

"D-don't laugh at me!" she cried. Honestly, the one time he laughed, and it was because of something she said… that actually didn't sound as bad as she'd thought it would sound. "What did I say?"

Her only answer was his laughter becoming louder. Her confusion didn't clear but slowly a smile spread across her face. "What?" she asked again, though this time smiling. She couldn't help it, it was a natural human reflex. He obviously found something funny, so even though she had no clue what it was she couldn't help but find it funny too.

"S-sorry, it's just that…" more soft laughter, "you misunderstand." He said. "I did not mean that I wanted you to bear my children… though I wouldn't be completely against it. What I meant was that I wish for you to help me create perfect beings…"

Mavis raised an eyebrow.

"… through science? And magic, of course but… are you following?"

Mavis blushed, unable to believe her mind had automatically gone to children, though, the way he phrased his stupid sentence, what was she to think? Still, his comment had surprisingly been much more innocent than she had believed. "Sorry, I just… that's embarrassing."

"I understand." Zeref said, the remainder of his smile had still not completely disappeared.

"Yeah… so, you said perfect beings, what do you mean?"

"Well, how else are we to create a perfect world? The second my life ends all humans will go back to their ways. So, I will create artificial life-forms."

"Artificial…" Mavis said, her smile slowly slipping off her face. His had finally gone, his eyes turning back to their dead state. He nodded solemnly.

"Yes, Mavis. They will still have souls, but they will have a drive in their heads, to do what's right."

"And why do you get to decide what's right? Is it right to tell the truth when it hurts someone's feelings? What about stealing? What if a man steals to feed himself, his family? Zeref, humanity is more complex! There is not simply a right and a wrong! You of all people should know that!"

Zeref rolled his eyes, "Mavis, the only one's who make humanity complicated, are humans. Right and wrong are actually quite simple. You have to tell the truth, even if it hurts someone's feelings. Lies will only hurt in the end. And if that man has to steal to feed himself then he doesn't deserve a life at all, he's wasting it. And if he knew he couldn't feed his family, he shouldn't have had one to begin with."

Mavis could feel her heart rate double. "I have never wanted to punch anyone more in my entire life." Zeref smirked slightly,

"But Mavis, we were just wrapped in a loving embrace."

"Zeref, shut up! Just shut up! Every time you open your mouth something stupid comes out of it!" she screamed.

"Ah, Mavis, don't-." Mavis reached up and pinched his lips together.

"No talking, just let me think." Mavis pinched the bridge of her nose and took deep breaths to try and calm herself down. How could one person be so incredibly cruel? "And what about you?" she whispered. "If humanity is so black and white, then by your logic, this whole plan goes against your… moral code." She said. "You're a hypocrite, plain and simple. You're murdering for what you believe to be the greater good. How is that, in any way, what's right?"

"Can I talk now?" Zeref asked, though it was warped and muffled.

"Nothing stupid's coming out of your mouth?" Zeref shook his head. Slowly, Mavis relinquished her grip. "Alright, talk."

"This is why we need perfect beings. Humans are hypocrites, murderers. After this plan is completed no soul will ever have to be rejected again. World peace, everyone happy, everyone living long healthy lives until they die of natural causes. No diseases, no conflict, no one will ever have to suffer again." Zeref knew that he'd promised her to think about giving up on his dream. That humanity was worth saving, but he really couldn't fathom it at the moment. Zeref wanted to believe that humanity was good but... Mavis speaking of how humanity was complex made him see again, just how wrong humanity was. If they'd lived like he had, they'd understand. If they'd see the countless wars, and the bloodshed, but they didn't. They weren't there, lives were lost, everything was destroyed. This was war... when nothing was left, and Zeref wanted to bring it upon the world. "Show me that humanity is worth saving, that they do good things, that they attempt world peace and then we'll talk." he muttered. Mavis had this sad expression up on her face. Frowning she said,

"Oh Zeref… are you really doing what you think is best for the world? Or are you doing this because it's the life you wanted?" Zeref glared at her,

"It IS the life I wanted. It's the life everyone wants, isn't it?"

"No, Zeref. Some people like adventure."

"Then they can go on adventures! I'm not stopping them! Go find the treasure chest, X marks the spot!"

Mavis shook her head, "Those aren't the kind of adventures I'm talking about. People need conflict, they need to grow, they need to change. If everything is given to them, if they live until they die of natural causes then… then the fun in life is just sucked right out, isn't it? Zeref, we live in this world every day. Live in it like it's our last day on Earthland because now, it very well could be. We could all wake up dead tomorrow… I could wake up dead tomorrow."

"No!" he cried. "No, you wouldn't, the likelihood of that happening-!"  
"No, Zeref, you're right. It's not likely in the least, however, accidents happen. That's why I'm going to live everyday like it's my last in this world. But it's probably not going to happen, so don't get worked up."

"I am NOT getting worked up." He growled. "I just… nothing. Anyway, you make valid points. But I suppose that's the thing with a perfect world. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

"It's not your choice to make." Mavis said. "A truly perfect world is unattainable, Zeref." She whispered in his ear, standing on tiptoe. "I know you want this to work, I know that you work hard for it, but it's not going to happen. Everyone's idea of a perfect world is different, because we're humans, we have different opinions, all of us will. To attain a perfect world free will would not play a part. And a world without free will… does that really sound like a perfect world to you?" he was silent. Mavis grabbed his hands, looking into his eyes, trying to find an answer even if he did not give her a verbal one.

"No… it doesn't." he finally admitted.

"So, give it up." Mavis gently squeezed his hands. Zeref stared at the ground, his eyes flickering up occasionally to meet hers. Almost like a chastised child.

"I… I don't…" Zeref gritted his teeth. "Get out." He said quietly. Mavis frowned, wondering if he meant it. Had it been a girl in front of her she would have recognized that those words were said as a formality, but that she really wanted Mavis to stay. This was not a girl however, this was a man, and he was already rather unstable. Learning his dream was impossible would probably push him over the edge.

So, she decided to play it safe and left like he asked. Probably a good idea because no sooner had the door been closed, she heard screams from inside that room.

Mavis, unable to help her cursed curiosity, peeked through the door after a minute to see Zeref hunched over, his head between his knees, screaming. She didn't know just what kind of screams they were, but she most definitely heard frustration and heartache in those screams.

In the end, Mavis decided to stay and watch. There was no telling what Zeref would do and she didn't want him to hurt anyone, or himself for that matter. Mavis decided she wanted to see a little better, so she cracked the door open a little more and thank God she did. What she hadn't noticed before was that there was a tiny little pocket knife glinting in his hands. She realized quickly he was about to slice his wrists open.

"ZEREF!" she screamed.

He stopped screaming and turned to look at her. Those eyes, they were worse than they had been, if that was possible, wilder, more desperate. This was who he was. Underneath the blank expressions and dead looks, here was the parts, the cracks in his façade, where humanity shone through. "What?" he asked, sounding irritated, like she had just interrupted his favorite song.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked sharply.

He sneered, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're about to hurt yourself."

"Well, congratulations on that award-winning observation. Get the lady a Nobel Prize." Zeref said, his voice laced with sarcasm. Mavis glared at him, unsure of when he became sarcastic, but not liking it.

"Give me that knife…" she waited, holding out her hand. "NOW!" she shouted, glaring. Zeref stared at her and then down to the knife. Mavis couldn't even begin to guess the thoughts rolling thorough his head.

"What's the point?" he asked finally, his shoulders slumping. "My dream is unattainable. I only had one goal in this world and now that it's done, there's no reason for me to be here."

"Give me, the knife." Is all she said.

Zeref gripped it tighter his fingers becoming paler from clenching his fists so tight. "Give it. If you do not comply then I will march right over and take it."

"You couldn't even make it across the room, before I decided to cut."

"No, but I could walk over there and take it before you do any lasting harm, beat you over the head, and then take you to the infirmary, therefore letting everyone know that you are an unstable psychopath."

"You couldn't take me…" Zeref said, though he sounded doubtful.

"Watch me." Mavis said, her features set in the sternest look she could muster. Zeref took a few more seconds to decide before walking over and handing her the knife. Mavis let out a silent breath of relief, thankful he played to her bluff. She pocketed the knife, "Alright, I hope you have a psychiatrist in Alverez because you are in need of serious help."

"I'm fine. I get suicidal sometimes, it happens to everyone. I've already seen psychiatrist and after seeing me, most of them need to go to see a psychiatrist…"

Zeref sighed and rubbed his temples, "I'll find a way…" he whispered. "Find a way to make a perfect world possible."

"It's unattainable." Mavis said, "I thought you accepted that." Zeref shook his head,

"They told me reviving the dead was unattainable and look at me now." He smirked slightly.

"Yeah…" Mavis said, looking utterly unimpressed, "Look at you now. You're a psychopathic, suicidal, maniac bent on making this world your twisted version of "perfect"."

"Yeah… it's pretty messed up, isn't it?" he said. Mavis nodded, not willing to brush off the fact he'd almost killed himself. She wanted to help, but didn't know how. So, she did the reasonable thing. She asked,

"What do you want me to do?" She decided to ask him because she would never know what he wanted. He was as unreadable as a blank page. Zeref glanced at her, his eyes filling with tears. They did not fall but she could see his eyes glistening slightly. Slowly Mavis placed her palm on his cheek, frowning unhappily.

* * *

 **In Pargrande Kingdom**

Back in Pargrande the army was beginning to assemble their weapons and board airships to march to Alverez. They were going to take back what belonged to them, no matter what. Thousands of troops moved to get weapons and supplies. Money and clothes. All of these people were boarding several huge airships.

The general was giving orders, telling the rest of the army where to go and what to do. He had his work cut out for him.

Meanwhile, in the castle 12 people sat. The rulers of every nation (nations that hadn't been destroyed). "Originally there were 13 of us... but King Toma and Princess Hisui have regretfully passed away due to the fatality of war... let us forever remember them." The king of Pargrande whispered. The others nodded mournfully as well, to show that they care. "But on to the problem at hand. Alverez… they have declared war on the world, obviously confident, even though their forces are much smaller than ours, that they can win."

"Well, maybe they're confident because they have the Black Wizard. And maybe he's confident because he's so powerful, and has been alive for centuries with much more experience than any of us have." the king of Stella reasoned.

"Very true, but if that's so what are we to do? Alverez has a much bigger military force than any of us."

"Not if we combine our power." the king of Pargrande said. "Listen, I know we're not all on the best of terms but these terrorists are threatening the world we live in, are we just going to let this army do that because they have a bigger military then any of us individually?"

"No..." they all said, shaking their head.

"Good, my troops have already moved to Alverez to attack and create a distraction." the king of Pargrande said. "This way we can think a little bit longer on what we're going to do, and if we're going to make an alliance or not. But, for the sake of our planet I truly hope that we can cast aside our differences so that we can defeat a common enemy that will destroy us, if we let him. By a show of hands, who would like to create a temporary alliance until Alverez is defeated?"

All hands were raised. "Very good..."

Now, outside the castle, in a shadier part of town sat a miniature army. They were also plotting how to destroy the Alverez army, though their methods were much more sinister. While the king of Pargrande and all others merely wanted the submission of Alverez, these people wished every single soldier, and civilian dead. But their goal was not them. Their main goal was to assassinate Zeref. The one who had taken everything from them. "So, Alverez is attacking the world, huh? Rather bold move." Said a blonde in the shadows. He was tall, pale, and his eyes were brown, a dark brown that stood out against his pale skin.

"Indeed." Another said, a creepy smile adorning her face. She had short black hair, cropped at the neck and cat-like green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. She was tanned, her biceps almost as large as her companions."You heard what I heard? Zeref's leading that army so we can be sure he'll put up one hell of a fight."

"Doubtful." Said the first man. "Haven't you seen? He has mental breakdowns every like, ten minutes." The blonde relayed.

"Well, he's gotten this far, so we should be weary." Another deep voice answered this time. He was by far the largest, he had dark skin and pitch-black hair resting on his forehead. Piercing Hazel eyes met the blonde's gaze with utmost solemnity.

"You should always be weary no matter what." Creepy smile said.

"All of you, shut up." The last growled, hopping up. He was pale with dark hair and electric blue eyes. Scars ran across his hands, neck and face, and they traveled beneath his shirt. This was the one to look out for, the one with ice-cold eyes. "I don't care if he has mental breakdowns or not. Haven't you heard? He's mortal now."  
"How do you know that?" all the others asked.

"Shh, it's a secret, I can't tell anyone. Not even you guys." He said. The others glanced at each other, weary about why their leader wouldn't tell them. After all, while he was a man of many secrets, most things he told them. If he didn't tell them something he would usually give them the reason why. Here though, he was silent so they could only assume the obvious. Whoever had told him did not wish to be named.

"So, we're gonna assassinate him?" the blonde asked.

"That's our job, ain't it?" creepy smile asked.

"Nate, Ethan, Clarissa, I told you to shut up!"  
"Sorry, Blake…" Ethan mumbled, he was the blonde. Clarissa had the creepy smile, and Nate was the one with a deeper voice than the others. Blake, meanwhile, was the leader of their little crew, and they had all been gunning for Zeref for years. Now, however, the opportunity had arisen and it was more likely to succeed, now that Zeref was supposedly mortal.

"Good, alright…" he turned to his crew. He didn't have a plan yet, not really, but he had ambition, that was all he needed. The only part he'd planned was that they needed to somehow sneak on to Pargrande airships. This would not be an easy task considering they were all criminals, but all parts of any plan, no matter how good, all had complications. This was no problem. They'd outrun the law for years, what was a few more days? So that's why Blake grinned maliciously when he said, "Come on kiddies, we're going to Alverez."

* * *

 **In Alverez airship**

In the meeting room her hand was still on his cheek, "Will you do anything?" he whispered.

"Within reason." she said, not ready to completely commit, though she didn't think he'd ask her to do anything she was strongly against. Zeref sighed and glanced into her eyes.

"Tell me the truth. Will it be alright... will everything be alright?" Outside they heard the motor of another ship, and if that wasn't enough they could see it, coming up behind them with the large Pargrande crest marked on the side of each of the dozen airships the were flying after him. Mavis sighed, glancing behind her before answering,

"The truth?" Zeref nodded. "When is everything really alright?" she asked slight exasperation in her tone. Zeref chuckled humorlessly,

"I suppose your right." he said quietly. She nodded,

"I usually am." she said. Mavis pulled away from him, walking up to the large window and placing her fingers gently upon it. "Listen, Zeref, this world might be going to hell, but it's all we've got," then she hesitated and Zeref knew she was about to say something she didn't want to, but would say, because it was the truth. Her eyes, how she looked at him, it was different then before. She looked calmer, like she didn't hate him. "I think… I've decided where I want my eternity to be." she whispered.

"Oh really? Where?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Mavis took a deep breath and then looked him seriously in the eye, and he could tell that she was not joking,

"Drag me to hell, Zeref." she whispered determinedly, her eyes hard. "Drag me kicking and screaming."

* * *

 **A/N Okay, this was a lot of back and forth. Please tell me if it seemed choppy to you. I wrote this at like, 2 in the morning and have been editing a revising ever since. I promise you that in the next chapter, Mavis's reasoning and why she has a sudden change of heart will be explained more. Blake, Ethan, Nate, and Clarissa are OC's that I came up with on the fly. They won't be major (as in they won't be talked a lot about) but they are the other thorn in Zeref's side, just waiting to kill him. I have not formulated pasts for them yet, but they will probably be explained at some point. As for who Blake's "inside man" is, can you guess who told him Zeref's immortal? It's not an OC so you probably don't even need three guesses. At the time I was thinking about who could want to kill Zeref and get revenge on him. I didn't really want to make OC's but at this point, all the villains in Fairytail are, in prison, dead, or turned good. Unless it was a surviving Fairytail member or something, there really wasn't anyone. Anyway, I don't have a schedule for this, but I will update whenever I have a new chapter... so, thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed. Reviews/follows/favorites are all appreciated. Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

Mavis took a few steps back from him, turning to gaze out the window. "They're coming up fast, I suggest you get someone on that." She told him.

Zeref stared at her for a moment longer before he seemed to snap out of his trance. "Oh, yes, of course." He said and opened up a telepathic link. Mavis assumed he was giving everyone orders on what they were to do. "Um…" he said after the link had been cut off.

"Yeah?"

"If I may ask, what's with the sudden change of heart." Mavis blinked at him before a bright smile crossed her face.

"I just had a change of heart, that's all!" she said optimistically. "I realize that I'm the one who's wrong. Oh Zeref, you were right all along… please don't think me stupid for not seeing it before."

"No!" Zeref shouted. "Uh… I mean, I don't think you're stupid. You're one of the smartest people I know."

Zeref was suspicious, very much so, but half the time he wondered if he was suspicious because there was good reason to be, or if he was suspicious because he was paranoid. Zeref managed to convince himself that this was Mavis. And that she would never lie to him, not about something so important.

Mavis, on the other hand, was perfectly aware that she was lying. She was also perfectly aware that he would believe her. She figured, that if he could treat this world as his chess board then she would play his game. What he wouldn't know until the very end though, was that he hadn't been playing alone. She had been following him every step of the way.

As much as she hated it, she cared about him, she really did. So, that's why she lied to him. This was her way of helping. After all, she wasn't going to save him from his own, personal hell, if she was in heaven now, was she?

So, she would let him drag her down, if only, so she could drag him back up. Because in the end, his only true enemy was himself. "My fairy… I have to go." Zeref told her.

"Let me come as well. I will help you." She said. Zeref looked extremely surprised,

"Are you sure? You don't feel as if you're forced to, do you."

"No Zeref, of course not. I would never willing do something that I felt was forced upon me." She said.

"You know, you don't have to…"

"No, Zeref, I told you. You're right, I accept that whole-heartedly. I think you're completely right… sometimes, even if we don't want it, there has to be war before there can be peace. Isn't that what you said."

"Ah… uh huh." Zeref nodded. Mavis tilted her head slightly,

"What's wrong? You do believe me, don't you?"

Zeref nodded. "Yeah, I do. Though… it is a little strange that you realized so suddenly…"

"Haven't you ever heard of it just hitting you? Like a lightning bolt."

"I suppose I have heard of realization described as such before, but I wouldn't know since I have never experienced it."

"I see. Well, that's what's going on here, so you don't really have a need to worry." Mavis smiled slightly,

"Well, if you're sure, then I'm positive you could be a major help." Zeref said.

"So, what were you thinking?"

"We're going to blow them to hell." Zeref said, his expression still somehow remaining blank as he said so.

"Blow them to… you're going to bomb them?"

"Why yes of course. I don't see what the problem is." Mavis wanted to open her mouth and tell him that the problem was that every innocent person on that ship was going to die a meaningless death. But she realized she couldn't say it. "What's wrong Mavis?" Zeref wondered, glancing at her. "Are you alright?"

 _He's testing me_ she realized. He was testing to see if she would respond to him, waiting to see if she started going off about the moral dilemma of what he was about to do. "I… I suppose that would the most effective way to eliminate the enemy." Mavis said as evenly as she could. But there was a tremor in her voice, and she couldn't hide it. She hadn't practiced her facial control, so she imagined she must look pained.

"Mavis…" Zeref said slowly.

"Just shut up! Alright, I'll admit, it's a little hard for me to get into the mind-set you're in, but I do believe that what you're trying to achieve is right… I just… it upsets me, to see others murdered."

"I know, my love." Zeref said. "It took me 400 years. I didn't expect you to change your mind within the course of an hour. No one could expect that of you." Mavis highly doubted that but she made no comment. "That's why I suspected that it would be better for you to sit this one out, since you aren't used to it."

To Mavis, he looked genuinely concerned, but it could very well be a ploy, another test perhaps? Maybe she shouldn't read to much into it, but how could she not! They didn't call Zeref a genius for nothing after all. "No, I should go. I'll never be able to get used to it if I just hang back." Mavis reasoned.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Mavis said, slightly irritated. Zeref nodded,

"Alright then, follow me. As you very well know, it's against Alverez's policy to simply bomb an airship."

"Oh, it's against policy to bomb an airship without permission, but not against policy to attack a kingdom without first declaring war?"

Zeref shrugged. "Minstrel didn't count. There was no king or queen, so technically it was a hazard, not a kingdom. I did the world a favor."

"Oh, I see… so, you will let Pargrande know that you're going to war with them?"

"Oh, no, of course not. You see those airships. _They're_ going to war with _me._ " He said. "So, really, I'm the victim."

Mavis barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Oh yes, you're the victim. I can totally see it now." Mavis couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice, but either Zeref ignored it, or didn't notice it, because he didn't comment on it.

"Yes. It's pretty easy to see." Zeref said. Mavis sighed and shook her head.

"Anyway, let's get going." Mavis said. Zeref nodded and turned around.

"Your right. Pargrande deserves to be wiped out immediately if they can't see they're endeavor to stop me is fruitless. Another thing about humans that should be despised. They never give up… even when it's hopeless."

"Hm, it remind you of someone?"

Zeref was silent, blinking, and in a flash, memories tore across his eyelids. Memories of pink blurs and brilliant smiles. "Yes… yes it does." He whispered quietly.

"What happened with you two, I never got the chance to ask."

"There's nothing really to tell… I killed him, that is all."

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it, because there's nothing to talk about." Zeref said irritably. Mavis sighed and said,

"Alright," because there was nothing else, she could say.

Zeref knew there was more to it then simply killing him, and that Mavis wanted details that Zeref could not uncover. It was much to fresh and painful. And yes, even when something was necessary, that didn't make the loss hurt any less.

"Sire," Invel peeked through the door, frowning. "They refuse to retreat, should we bomb them?"

"Yes, and do not cease until they are too far to fire at or until they go down." Zeref said. "And you will launch mini airships with the purpose to land and attack the main ship. I will be on one of these airships."

"Your majesty, you're no longer immortal, do you really think that you should be on the airship yourself attacking? If you were to be injured-."

"I will be on an airship; do I make myself clear Invel? Quit questioning my orders, it is very unlike you."

"I-I'm not questioning your orders, I'm simply making sure that you understand the full risks of everything you do while mortal." Zeref was not pleased with being called mortal constantly, nor was he pleased that Invel thought he needed to be reminded that everything he did put him at "risk".

"I would like to remind you, Invel. That this very war puts my life at risk. I am willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what, as long as it means there is a new, better world, for all involved. If I was concerned with my health, then this is something I would not be doing." Zeref growled. "I am not pleased."

"Forgive me, sire." Invel said, bowing slightly. "I will prepare a ship to take you."

"No need. I have called ahead. Ajeel should've already prepared one. It just didn't take very long because he didn't waste time questioning my orders."

"Yes, of course." Invel ignored the small jab and left.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on him?" Mavis asked after Invel was out of earshot.

"No, I do not. He's fine." Zeref said, straitening up. "Come, let's go. You did want to come with me, did you not?"

"Yeah, I did." Mavis said.

"Alright, then follow." Zeref said, motioning for her to come.

Mavis complied. This was what she had gotten herself into, so she was going to follow through on it. Mavis didn't even pay attention as she walked the halls of the airship, she needn't memorize them since she had no intention of trying to escape. "Here." Zeref said, opening the hatch. Inside was a small airship, small, and probably meant for one, but the both of them were quite tiny, so they managed to squeeze in. It was slightly uncomfortable and there was no such thing as personal space within the little ship, but other than that it wasn't terrible.

"Be safe, your majesty. Don't be stupid."

Before Zeref could glare and object the top was closed and Ajeel had left. "What do I have to do to get these people's respect." Zeref grumbled to himself.

Meanwhile, Mavis thought she had a much more important concern. "Do you know how to fly an airship?" she asked, a little more frightened, because certainly she should've asked before boarding this thing with him.

"Well, of course." Zeref said.

"Alright then, I have a better question. Have you ever flown one before?"

"Well, no, but it can't be that much different than walking, right?" Mavis only looked at him exasperatedly.

"See! This is what happens when you open your mouth! Stupid things fly out of it! This here, is a modern piece of technology! It has gears and is operated with magic, and may I remind you of the most obvious difference? It is a flying hunk of metal! It FLIES, ZEREF! IT FLIES!"

"Well, if it's that important to you then fine. You take the wheel."

"WHAT! THAT IS NOT WHAT I-."

"I get it. Just calm down."

"Well, finally. I'm glad that you… wait, what exactly do you get?" she wondered, turning to him. Zeref seemed to come to rather odd conclusions at times.

"I get it. You're mad because this airship runs on human blood."

"No, that is not why… wait, it DOES!" Zeref stared at her with that infuriating blank stare and shrugged.

"I don't know, what do you think I am? A pilot?"

"No, you're not because you don't know how to fly! I'm mad because I've willingly gotten on this deathtrap only to fall to my death because some idiot thought that working an airship would be know different then walking on the ground."

"We're not going to fall to our death." Zeref assured her. "This airship is extremely sturdy, so we wouldn't die upon impact, we would die of blood loss and broken bones from crashing."

"Well that makes me feel better." Mavis told him, meaning this sentence to be sarcastic, but Zeref took it quite literally.

"Well, that was not my intention, but I'm glad that it did." Slowly, the hatch to in front of them opened and Zeref attached the cuff to his wrist so that his magic power flowed into the vehicle.

The aircraft started to levitate after several minutes and Zeref thrust it forward, throwing them both too far forward. Mavis bumped her head on the windshield, "Ow!" she cried, putting her hands on her forehead.

"Your seatbelt." Zeref reminded her, turning the wheel much to hard, causing the aircraft to spin out of control for a moment. "And I'll admit, it is a bit different from walking."

"A bit!" she cried, groaning.

Zeref didn't respond, though to be fair he was a little busy trying not to crash. Soon, they were clear of the Alverez airships and sailed straight ahead, almost careening into the side of one Pargrande airship, but Zeref thrust up at the last possible moment. Mavis tried not to scream, though she gripped the seat for dear life.

Finally, Zeref thrust the airship into autopilot and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Autopilot! You could've done that the entire time.

"Come on, we're jumping."

"What!" Mavis cried as Zeref opened the hatch of the miniature airship. He whipped around to face her, "I said we're jumping." Mavis watched as everyone else who boarded the miniature airships did the same, jumping down on to the airship after releasing several bombs.

"But how are we going to get back up!" Mavis cried, as the Pargrande airships started dropping like flies.

"See that one!" Zeref yelled over the wind and bombs. He pointed to the largest one, in the middle of all the rest, sitting proudly with it's symbol displayed proudly. "We're going to jump it, take out everyone on board, and then take the ship for ourselves! It's sure to have the most supplies!"

The airship down below was bigger than all the Alverez airships combined. "This was your plan." She whispered. "You knew a country would attack, especially Pargrande since it's the biggest, and had the most to lose! You plan to take over that airship and attack Pargrande while the rest of your ships restock! That way Pargrande capital is swiftly defeated and the rest of your airships can be strategically placed, and the empire will fall easily…"

"You catch on quickly. Slower than I suspected, but still quickly. So, come on!"

"I… I can't." Mavis said. "I didn't know we were jumping so I didn't bring a parachute."

"Well then, luckily for you, I did."

"Couldn't you just teleport-."

"Ah, ah, ah… it's all part of the fun Mavis, don't ruin it. Come on, grab on to me,"

"No way." Mavis shook her head. "You might drop me."

"No, I won't." Zeref said.

"What about the parachute, it won't-!"

"Mavis, if worst comes to worst I can always just teleport."

"But will you? I just watched you almost kill yourself!"

"Yeah, myself, not you Mavis. Never you." He said and held out his hand for her to take. Mavis hesitated, glancing at his eyes, trying to read those orbs of pure black. They didn't hold the sparkle that eyes should, but they were filled with sincerity. "I love you, I could never do that to you."

Mavis finally decided that to keep up appearances, she'd reluctantly trust him, even if it meant she came to regret it later. Finally, she took his hand. It was ice cold, like she expected, but unexpectedly his touch filled her with warmth she didn't know it could possess.

He wrapped both of his arms around her, holding her tightly and the both of them jumped. Mavis couldn't help it and screamed, clutching on to him tighter than she had been, wrapping her legs around her torso. They were falling very quickly, the air whipping around them, her screams lost to the wind to the point you could barely hear them. But soon, their fast fall was slowed as Zeref opened his parachute, and it lowered them gently on to the airship like she weighed nothing.

The parachute pooled around the two of them, useless as Zeref unclipped the parachute, setting her down as he did so. "I told you that you wouldn't fall." He said, smirking slightly.

Mavis sighed and nodded, "Thanks for not dropping me, I guess." Mavis said.

"I would never drop you." Zeref said to her. Mavis almost allowed herself to be swayed by his words but then she remembered what he'd done. "I love you."

"I know." Mavis said, gently patting his arm. "Come on, you wanted to kill everyone on this airship, didn't you?" Zeref nodded.

"We're going to make our way to the control room. We'll destroy anyone who gets in our way."

"Okay." Mavis said and followed him around as he looked around for the control center.

"This way." Zeref said, pointing at the sign that said the control room down the hallway to their left. So, Mavis followed Zeref down that way and Mavis was relieved when no one showed up to stop them. Zeref opened the door and the pilot was inside. He turned around just in time to witness Zeref's black smoke engulfing him, causing him to fall to the ground, dead. He only hesitated for an instant.

"How do you do that so easily?" Mavis asked, staring at the body.

"It's not killing that's hard, that's the easy part. It's living with their deaths, eating away at you for the rest of your life that's the hard part." Zeref told her.

That pilot, the one who he didn't even know the name of, now haunted him, and he would for eternity. That face, in the back of his mind, all of them, constantly eating away at him. "You remember them, don't you? The faces of those you killed."

"Not all of them." Mavis admitted. "Some of them are just blurs in a massive sea of blood." She shrugged.

Zeref nodded. After a while he thought he'd forget too, he thought that the faces would blend, but they never did. And each one was so clear it frightened him into thinking they might still be alive and even occasionally think they might be coming after him no matter how ludicrous the notion.

Magic powers spiked everywhere as Zeref turned on the autopilot and turned to Mavis. "Come on, let's clean the rest of this place up." Zeref said. Mavis nodded and followed him around as Zeref took out a few more people. Each time Mavis felt her heartrate pick up and her stomach clench, but she gritted her teeth and bore through the pain and horror.

It was necessary, and she always did what was necessary. Eventually, everyone on the airship lay dead or dying on the floor. "That's everyone, sire." A soldier said when Zeref asked.

He was silent feeling for anymore magical signatures, "I feel four more magical signatures." Zeref said, turning to the guards. "I'll take care of it."

"Not alone." Mavis reminded him.

"No, not alone." Zeref said, a slight smile on his face.

So, they left, walking toward what Zeref assumed to be the cargo space, which was odd, though in a way, smart, as that would be the last place, he would look for stowaways (then again, he wouldn't look for stowaways in the first place).

What was odd to him, was that these people were obviously wizards, meaning that they could undoubtedly sense his magical presence they didn't even try to run, even though that was their only hope.

The cargo was filled to the brim with bags and equipment strewn carelessly around. Probably the result of leaving so quickly. "Show yourselves." Zeref said. "Hiding is pointless and will only serve to annoy me. Come out now and I assure you that I will kill you quickly

Just then, the luggage that had been so abundant moments before was nowhere to be found. It had all flown out into the sky. It quickly became apparent that the hatch had been opened. Zeref felt himself yanked out of the aircraft as well. "ZEREF!" Mavis screamed and tried to follow him but was held back by a few soldiers who had come with them to ensure their survival. They had acted quickly enough to grab onto one of the many pipes lining the walls and moved agonizingly out of the way of the wind pressure sucking things out of the craft.

It would probably have been amusing had Zeref screamed, but he didn't and soon plummeted too far for Mavis to see him. She couldn't help but struggle in the soldiers' hold, wanting to help Zeref, though not knowing how. Despite her wishes Mavis could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall as he image of Zeref being torn from the aircraft replayed in her mind a countless amount of times. She was unable to shake the image from her mind. "ZEREF!" she cried again, hoping he could hear her cries, though knowing he could hear no such thing. It was very likely he was falling through the sky, waiting to hit the ground. it was very likely he was reflecting on his life. Because it was very likely that within the next few minutes, he would be dead.

* * *

 **A/N New chapter! Please don't kill me for leaving you with a bit of a cliffhanger. The next chapter will hopefully be out sometime next week, because I'm pretty sure I already have a plan for it. This chapter was NOT supposed to end here (in fact, Zeref wasn't even supposed to get sucked out, but here it is). Anyway if you have any questions feel free to review or pm me about it. Likely any questions that you have is because I forgot something so... anyway, thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews/favorites/follows are all appreciated and I'll see you guys next week. Bye! (ps. winter break is almost over :( nooooo!)**


	6. Chapter 6

The wind whipped around his head and body, and he had been suspended for so long he forgot about the fluttery feeling in his stomach. Vaguely he wondered if he was really falling or if the ground was chasing him. Such ludicrous questions did not deserve a response. At least, that's what he told himself.

It would be easy, for him to fall to his death. Upon impact his entire body would be crushed, dead in an instant. He wondered if in that instant 400 years of eternal life could flash before his eyes. It would be quite a feat but Zeref found that it was before those 400 years of suffering, that he was thinking about. Natsu had been very tiny then, so tiny Zeref had been able to hold him in just one arm. Comfortably, he might add.

Somehow, only memories of Natsu flashed through his mind, the person he'd loved since the very beginning. The only person he'd ever sell his humanity for, the only one for whom he'd done the impossible. Zeref thought, looking at the ground coming closer and closer, that of all the ways to die, this wasn't so bad. Falling through the sky, dying as he hit the ground, it was rather ironic, perhaps terribly so.

His mind was the sky, it had never been too grounded. Zeref might've liked facts, they were fun, they made the world sane. But he liked even better was proving those facts wrong. Once he hit the ground, he was afraid he wouldn't be the sky anymore… Zeref had always wondered what it'd feel like to fly.

Zeref imagined that this experience would be much more uplifting had he truly been flying but falling for miles and miles wasn't terrible either.

Tears made their way to his eyes as he allowed himself to reflect on his life choices. Most of them were awful decisions leading only to pain and misery, however… Zeref couldn't bring himself to regret those decisions. Those decisions had given Natsu life, something Zeref himself had never regretted. Because he'd been worth it. Every single tiny glass shard had been worth it, to see him just one more time.

"ZEREF!" voices in the wind reached his ears, or perhaps his soul. Zeref did not know which. Perhaps if he had been anyone else, he would've thought that a greater being had come to give him a second chance at life, or even just to take back his greatest mistake. Killing Natsu.

But he was not anyone else, he was himself, because if he had been anyone else that meant that someone else would have to be him, and he would not wish that fate upon anyone. So, since he was Zeref he knew that no greater being would come help him in a million years, which left the only option of someone shouting his name (and him somehow able to hear it) or he was insane. Unsurprisingly Zeref was more inclined to go with the latter.

Then though, he heard it again, "ZEREF!" the voice, it sounded desperate, almost like it wanted to see him again, like it didn't want him to die, like it cared.

"Mavis…" Zeref whispered, his eyes slowly opening. Was it her screaming for him? It certainly sounded like her voice, but he could not be too sure. Why would Mavis ever call out to him? Scream his name. Zeref did not know why (which was rare) but he did know that she was calling him, so he had to respond to her.

Zeref focused his magic, closing his eyes to picture where he wanted to go. He wanted to be where Mavis was, so he pictured her face and all the tiny qualities about her. The qualities he loved and the qualities… the qualities that he could do without.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in the airship, standing next to her, off to the side so that the wind could no longer suck him out. Mavis was crying, though she didn't seem to realize it. The sight of her tears made Zeref frown. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Is something wrong." her eyes widened at the sight of him.

"Zeref?" she whispered, staring at him.

"Yes?" he asked tilting his head. Mavis's face crumpled as more tears fell,

"D-don't say yes, like everything is normal, dummy." She muttered, Zeref felt his shoulder punched in what he assumed to be a playful manner, though, it certainly did not seem playful because it was accompanied by a stinging pain. "You're the stupidest person on Earth! I was worried when you fell out and then you appear next to me like everything is completely fine! You nearly died!"

"You were… worried?"

"Is that the only part you heard! God, you're such an idiot sometimes I don't know what to do." she glared at him, her tears long gone. "I thought… how did you…"

"I teleported back up here." Zeref said.

"Well, why didn't you do that in the first place!" she cried angrily.

"I was fully prepared to let myself die." he whispered so quietly, Mavis could barely hear above the wind, even though he was right next to her. "And then I heard your voice, and you sounded scared. So, I came back."  
"Idiot…" she mumbled, wondering if he had really heard her through everything. "I can't believe you." Zeref smiled softly wondering which part of him she could not believe. "Ah, that reminds me." Mavis shot to attention, looking around the cabin. "Where did those wizards go?"

"They jumped." Zeref said calmly. "I doubt they thought that there plan to kill me would work. Though I imagine they were rather surprised with how long it took me to reappear."

"Jumped! Do you mean they committed suicide!"  
"No, they were wearing parachutes and had planned to jump from the very beginning. It was just plain luck that I happened to fall out."

"I see… will you go after them?" she asked.

"I do not think so." Zeref said. "Either I will meet and kill them at a later date, or my plan B will finish them."

"Your plan B? What's that?" Mavis asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Nothing anyone but myself needs to worry about. Those stowaways don't matter. Let's just focus and set a course for Pargrande."

"And you're sure it's worth it."

"Is what worth what?"  
"Is your humanity worth winning. Is winning worth the world?"

"My dear Mavis this isn't about winning or losing. This is about how humanity needs to be wiped out." Zeref turned to look at her. "How this new world needs to be created, this is the way to go about it. I've tried every other way. In fact, I even thought about using the Eclipse Gate to go into the future where humanity has been wiped out and I can create my new world. But the gate is broken, and I do not wish to spend the time repairing it. Besides, the war has already started so I may as well finish it. What I want… no, that's not quite right. Everything I ever wanted is gone." He turned to her. "So, this is all I have left, and I am determined to make the best of it."

"What did you want?"

"What do you think I want? What I truly wanted was to revive Natsu so that we could be together again. So that we could live full lives together. So that I could grow up, maybe become a wizard, maybe teach Natsu magic, maybe have a family. I don't know, because I guess… ever since getting cursed, I never really thought of those things ever again. Because it made me care and as you very well know, caring is forbidden when cursed. But now that it's gone, I've been thinking about what I really wanted and all those things I just listed… they may be things that I did want. I wanted to have all those things and be able to love without fear… but what I really wanted was to have a life. That's all I ever really wanted. And that's not too much to ask for, is it? Is it? Did I really want to much? I never wanted to wipe out humanity, but it's all I can think about, what do you expect! I've been thinking about it for 400 years, and even though I now no longer bear that curse I cannot help but want it still. Because even without the contradiction I can see the point in all the madness and I wish I couldn't, but I can! And there's nothing I can do about that!"

"Zeref, it's okay… I'll help you forget somehow. I promise."

Zeref smiled sadly. "Alright, if that's what you think, then I'll be here. But I won't stop my goal, I will make it possible no matter what and you… you never really did support me, did you?"

"I care about you Zeref, and I want you to be happy." Was all she said. But it was all the answer he needed.

"I thought so… I'm going to go to bed now. I've been up for the last few days. Human bodies apparently need rest so, I'll see you in a few hours when I wake up." He said, running a few fingers through his hair. She nodded, smiling slightly at how ordinary he looked for a moment.

"You should really take better care of yourself." She commented. "Now that your mortal you have needs, such as having to sleep and eating and—"

"I know." Zeref said, interrupting her. "I just forgot." He said it like it was an excusable… excuse. But before Mavis could complain about this he had left, simply gone. Now she could only hear the yells of the soldiers behind her.

Zeref appeared in the control center, which was the room he remembered most. Zeref decided to wander around a little until he found a suitable place to sleep for a few hours.

He finally found it in a supply closet. Now, others might have stared at him like he was crazy for sleeping in a closet without a blanket or pillow or something stupid like that. But Zeref was used to sleeping outside in any kind of weather. The supply closet was actually an upgrade in that sense. Besides, Zeref didn't feel up for searching for some furniture.

If he had ordered someone to get him blankets and a pillow, he would've gotten them. Heck, if he had ordered a bed, someone probably would've arranged for such a thing. Zeref wasn't concerned about not causing trouble, he didn't much care if he was inconveniencing others it would just be an inconvenience to himself really, so he didn't bother. A supply closet was just fine. No one to bother him.

So, he closed the door and turned on the small light on the ceiling. He wanted to think a little more without anyone being annoying before going to sleep. Zeref laid down on the floor that was quite uncomfortable but Zeref found himself unbothered. In fact, what truly annoyed him was the locket around his neck making clinking sounds on the wood and choking him slightly. Zeref had never been bothered before but now that he was mortal…

Seeing it, instead of getting angry he simply opened it. Inside was a picture of him and his brother together, though perhaps the picture should be torn in half as Zeref was rather fond of such dark musings. But it was all he had left of him. Other than this picture here… it was like Natsu had never existed in the first place.

In fact, the real Natsu, well… he had not existed in a very long time. And this picture was him. The real him, not some fake version he had created to satisfy his needs and desires, but a real person. Human.

Not to say that the version he had created was bad. That Natsu had very similar qualities and human characteristics. He was breathing, alive, mortal, but he was not the same. But perhaps that was only because he was not a little boy, not because he was part demon. Zeref didn't like to ponder on it. But it made him think of the him, Natsu. As he lay dying at Zeref's feet. In an instant the heartbreak flooded back, twisting his memories into something much more horrible then he remembered. Or perhaps, the memories were not twisted and simply the truth. And Zeref had learned a long a long time ago that sometimes the truth was more twisted then even a lie.

* * *

 **In Zeref's memory**

Zeref looked down from the airship and watched as Natsu tore through his army, his lips forming his name, probably screamed with rage unrivaled. Zeref found that rather amusing. He'd made Natsu angry, and this was the result. A Natsu that tore through anything that got in his way. One who ran in blindly, fists blazing, mouth screaming insults. It was quite the display and Zeref found himself enjoying this. Not necessarily what was happening, as the sight of blood and unconscious people was rather disturbing. But what he did enjoy was watching Natsu for minutes-on-end, not saying a word, and knowing he didn't have to. He would be required to go down there soon, required to battle him in the hopes that Natsu could destroy him.

"Maybe you should go down now." One of his servants stated quietly. Zeref had not been aware of their presence and turned. She was young, maybe early teens, her mother probably a servant as well. Though, why she was in here was completely lost on him.

"And what are you doing here?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing!" she said quickly. "M-mother just sent me to clean this room up, but then you were in here so…" she trailed off.

"And you think you can tell me what to do without consequence?" he asked. The girls' eyes widened considerably, and she shook her head.

"No, sir, I would never!" she said frantically. Humans were indeed amusing. Zeref could've smiled jokingly but he didn't, standing.

"Regardless, you are right. I suppose it's time for me to show myself. Tell me child, do you have any siblings?" the girl nodded.

"Five youngers, your majesty." Zeref gave her the only expression he could muster which was a soft look, his lips quirking upward into a very small, very sad smile.

"Take good care of them… tell them you love them, your whole family. You never know when they'll be gone. And then maybe one day you will be in this very airship, about to fight them…" Zeref knew such notions were absurd but he could not help it. It didn't matter anyway. Very soon this girl and her family were to know no more.

"I will…" the girl said, watching him leave. Once Zeref had closed the door, magic welled up within him and he soon found himself appearing on the battlefield in a whirl of black smoke. Natsu paused allowing his brain to process who was in front of him.

"Zeref!" he snarled, glaring fiercely.

"Hello." Zeref said, "I'm glad you could make it, Natsu. How have you been as of late?"

"You don't need to know!" Natsu shouted, raising his fists. "Now, come and fight me."

"I suppose you were always rather brash…" Zeref commented. Natsu's scowl only deepened,

"What?"

"Natsu, there is something I would like you to know before you die." Zeref said, his eyes twinkling in anticipation. "It started 400 years ago when my family was killed by dragons. At the time war was afoot and our village was targeted. I was the only survivor."

"Pity it had to be you instead of someone nice." Natsu grumbled.

"You know, I actually felt the same. Except it wasn't because that person was nice per say. Now then, I did not want to accept such a thing, so I researched on ways to bring the dead to life, specifically my little brother. And a short time later I succeeded, and my little brother lived once more."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Zeref ignored him and continued, "But, I knew that he could not be with me, for I was cursed to kill all which I love and that was a bit of a problem. So, I gave him to a dragon and sent the two of them along with 4 other children into the future using the Eclipse Gate. Anna Heartfillia helped me to open it and send the five 400 years into the future and her descendant Layla opened it on the other side, dying in the process. These 5 children were sent into the future to grow strong enough to defeat Acnologia in an era where he would lay dormant. These five children were Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, Rogue, and you… Natsu. One of you was my brother, as well as my greatest, strongest creation. One of you was E.N.D.

"I'm not going to like what you say next, am I?"

"You were that person, my little brother."

"Yep, I knew I wasn't going to like it…"

"But that's impossible!" Happy cried. "Natsu would never be some mean old demon! And he certainly wouldn't be related to you! That just… that just doesn't happen! Like Lucy paying her rent on time!" Zeref had no idea what that had to do with this conversation, so he ignored it,

"What do you say, Natsu?"

"It's not possible… Igneel couldn't kill E.N.D, he wasn't strong enough! But I was just a kid. He could've squashed me under one toe!"

"He was not physically incapable of ending your life, however because he loved you it was impossible to kill you."

"You can't expect me to accept this…" Natsu said cautiously.

"I do not expect you to accept it. I merely thought you should know before you die, for I am connected to all my creations. They were created and sustained by my magic. So, since you're E.N.D, if you kill me…"

"Then I'll die too…" Natsu said, realization dawning on him. Zeref nodded,

"Precisely." He said gravely.

"But I don't have to kill you. I just have to stop you and the only way to do that is to defeat you! So, solution is, I'll just beat you up but keep you alive and let the magic council deal with you!"

"I don't think so, Natsu. Either way, whether it's you or me, people are going to die today. So, either you kill me, or I kill everyone."

Natsu readied his fists, setting them aflame again, "We'll see about that." He said, barreling toward Zeref.

Natsu's first punch connected and Zeref was sent flailing backwards a few feet. Natsu, rushing forward, connected a follow-up punch with his stomach.

Zeref reached out and grabbed Natsu's wrist, digging his nails in so he would not fly backward again. Natsu's eyes widened as Zeref thrust his knee into Natsu, sending him hunched over, the air knocked out of him.

Then, Zeref used one hand to grab Natsu's shoulder and rammed him into the ground, crawling on top of him. "Is this all Natsu? You leave me rather disappointed." Zeref said, gathering a ball of pure death magic in the palm of his hand, Zeref thrust it forward.

There were many ways Natsu could've handled this situation. He could've done a fire dragon's roar, could've punched Zeref in the face with a flaming fist, could've even bashed his own head into Zeref, but no. Instead, without thinking, Natsu did the lowest of the low and rammed his knee in between Zeref's legs.

The change was instant. Zeref appeared to choke on the air in his throat and fell to the side, hunched over, simply waiting out the pain. "That's low." Happy said.

"I know…" Natsu said, getting up. "But it was life or death and if you had been faced with a death orb you would've done it too!" Natsu insisted.

"Mmhm." Happy said, unconvinced.

The soldiers did not know what to do and were completely lost, so they just stood there like zombies without a brain.

"Uh… are you okay?" Natsu asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Zeref replied hoarsely. "Just give me a minute." Natsu could've kept attacking, but he had just done the worst thing that a man could do to another man, so it was safe to say that this was an exception to being mortal enemies.

After a few minutes, Zeref got back up, the pain having faded and whatever damage done, healed. "That was dirty." He said.

"God, I know, okay! Stop hounding me!" Natsu growled.

"Now it's awkward." Happy grumbled.

"Shut up!" Natsu cried. "It's not awkward, see!" Natsu said, as Zeref rushed him, tackling him.

"You think they'd be using their magic." Happy grumbled to himself.

"Now then, I believe that since you have committed the ultimate sin, I should get to do the same." Zeref said. It was a childish thing to want, however, this was his brother. This encounter felt oddly like a scuffle rather than a fight to the death at the moment. Though in a few minutes it would become exactly that.

"Fine." Natsu agreed.

"And now he's letting his enemy get free hits… uh oh, I'm starting to sound like Lucy! What if her common sense is contagious." Happy started panicking slightly, meanwhile Natsu was hunched over in pain.

"That's… nothing!" Natsu cried, hopping back on to his feet. "Fire dragon's roar!" Natsu screamed. Fire engulfed Zeref, blasting him off his feet. "Hah!"

"Foolish boy." Zeref said as the smoke faded. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he wondered, tilting his head. Natsu's mouth dropped open. That had been one of his most powerful attacks and Zeref had brushed it off like it was nothing. This would definitely be a hard battle.

Natsu rushed forward and tried several of his dragon slayer hits and kicks. With each one Zeref gained several bruises and burns, but no matter the wounds, they healed. "I thought you'd be stronger by now." Zeref said, disappointed.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu screamed.

"I will not. I grow bored of this." Zeref said, watching his brother sadly. "You were the last hope for this world… and now… it seems as if you have failed the world… or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the world has failed you."

"The world didn't fail me, Zeref, it doesn't work that way." Natsu said, frowning. "Oh, and Zeref you said something about being cursed but… what was the curse again?"

"It is commonly known as the Curse of Contradiction. One is cursed, and they are immortal. Not only that but they are also forced to kill all of that which they love. So, if they value life, they will steal it away; conversely, if they do not value life at all then nothing will be stolen by the curse… but if you forget the value of life then it is likely you will kill anyway."

"So… the curse will kill anything you love?"

"Yes."

"And you are immortal?" Zeref nodded again. "Well… then, why don't you try valuing your own life." Natsu said. Zeref raised an eyebrow.

"How does that help me? It was meant to help me, wasn't it? Besides, you don't think that I have thought of that in 400 years?"

Natsu shrugged. "Well you keep going on about how you want to die, so I'm pretty sure you don't value your own life."

"That's correct, but what of it? Value my own life." Natsu nodded,

"Yes, it's not complicated. You just hate yourself too much to realize that if you value your life then your curse should be forced to kill you, however you are immortal so… maybe it would cancel out?"

Zeref just kept staring at Natsu, unable to believe his brother had simply thought up such a plan in a few seconds when he had been searching for an answer for years and come up empty handed. Perhaps he had just been too intent on hating himself to see it, but Zeref couldn't be sure.

"You're probably wrong but…" maybe it was worth a try. "But I'm trying to win a war right now, there's no time for that. You're just trying to distract me!"

"That's not true," Natsu insisted. "I'm only trying to help."

"No one has ever helped me. There was one who tried, but she died before ever getting the chance to help."

"Well, there's a first time for everything." Natsu said.

"No, I won't allow it! You're plotting against me, aren't you!"

"No, I'm not! Why would I harm you when you're not going to defend yourself!"

"I don't know… but… so, chivalry matters to you I take it?"

"Hell no! This isn't about something as stupid as chivalry." Natsu snorted. "This is about me as a person. Chivalry makes it sound like I'm a knight or something, but I'm not. I'm not going to go on about moral stuff or a code of honor or something. I punch my opponents in the face, not stab them in the back. That's just how I am."

"I see." Zeref said. "Why would you wish to help me? No one wishes to help me."

"Well, me helping you equals me helping me… in other words I'm not only helping you, but I'm helping everyone else who might have the misfortune of encountering your death magic."

"This curse gives me the inability to control death magic, but I still possess it. A long time ago I learned how to control it. It didn't stop the occurrences, but it helped. Even if the curse were to leave me, since I've learned death magic it is still a skill I will possess."

"Whatever, at least it wont lash out at random."

"Agreed. But I can reach such results on my own. Now that you have expressed to me this way of possibly tricking the curse, it is time for you to die."

"Wait, but—!"

"Chivalry means nothing to me. I will destroy you whether you are aware of such a thing or not. Over the years I have come to learn that it matters little whether people are aware of my presence. They still die in the ends." Zeref lifted his hand, "In the end you were unable to kill me, but I suppose you had use for something after all." Natsu's eyes widened and he, didn't have time to dodge the oncoming death attack. He couldn't have anyway as this spell was death predation, killing everything within a certain radius.

The death magic rushed over him pulling Natsu to the ground where he lie still. Zeref was not happy with this loss but he'd deemed it necessary.

He walked over to the corpse and knelt beside it, gently turning Natsu's face toward him. Standing this close, Zeref could see all the tiny details hidden in every tiny crevice.

Then, his eyes traveled to Natsu's scarf which was a pitch black. The sight made Zeref's hand freeze as Natsu's eyes popped open, "Hello again." he said, smirking. That was all that was said before a fire-covered fist collided with his face.

Zeref flew backwards and slammed against a building his spine breaking from the force. Then, he fell limply to the ground, motionless. While on the inside he was screaming from pain, Zeref felt as though he couldn't breathe, and he had grown used to the sensation of bones breaking as it usually happened to him on a daily basis whether by accident or he was intentionally jumping off cliffs.

Slowly, everything started to knit itself back together, but before the process could be finished, Natsu grabbed him by the throat and slammed him back into the building. "You know, I was willing to work with you, but then you decided to be difficult." Natsu sighed, "I can't kill you… or maybe I should say, I don't want to kill you. Obviously because I'll die, but also because your human. And if there's another way to stop you other than killing you, I'd take it but… there doesn't seem to be another option."  
Zeref felt angry at being called human, no matter how truthful those words were. Slowly, Zeref's arm trembled as he reached toward his brother. Zeref would not die from air loss, though it did make his body very weak and Zeref generally uncomfortable. Surprisingly, Natsu did not move away. Zeref's hand brushed Natsu's forehead. "Natsu… you are… my brother." Zeref wheezed with the small amount of air he had left. "You were worth it… you always will be. Know, that I love you very much… but unfortunately…" Zeref smiled sadly, "Love has no place in war."

Zeref allowed death predation to tear through his palm and envelop everything within the vicinity. Even his own soldiers dropped dead from such a spell. A meaningless loss.

Natsu's grip on his throat loosened as the seconds wore on. For Zeref they felt longer than his 400 years on this earth. Zeref caught Natsu and lowered him to the ground, his eyes overflowing with tears once more. Who would've guessed that even after all these years his little brother's death hurt more than the falling of a thousand cities. "I have loved you since the moment we were placed in this world together. And I shall love you forevermore… that's why this is necessary. I won't let you see me tear this world of which you loved so much, apart before your very eyes. I'm not as cruel as that." Natsu's hand had fallen and now rested on the ground.

Zeref could've buried him, but he hadn't the time for such formalities. Zeref gently removed his arms from under Natsu and laughed humorlessly to himself. "I never got to meet you, did I? I never knew of the person you became however… I feel as if you were the best human alive. And yet you ask me to value my own life? How would I do that when my life does not deserve to be valued?"

Zeref tried to find a way his life could hold value because he knew he could not simply accept himself for who he was and what he had become. Then, he figured it was his goal. That which he strived to achieve. He was creating a new world, while he did this, because he did this, his life held value. No one else was capable of accomplishing such a task. Therefore, his life held value. Zeref felt something painful strike within him, making him double over. Several waves of death shot from his body killing everything that wasn't already dead.

His head was pounding in the way it had the first time Zeref had experienced the curse. Even with all the years of practicing Zeref could help but scream as it felt like his body was being torn in half. He clutched his head as hard as he could still screaming. He had no one to scream to so meaningless wails filled the air. Over and over again. Was this what happened when he valued his own life. And then, it stopped as suddenly as it had come.

Zeref slowly opened his eyes, his hands loosening their grip. He looked around inquiringly. Everything was dead, there was nothing left. More tears of pain and remorse slid down his cheeks. The sky was hazy the city silent, only the crackling of fire and his own panting filled the air. Then hysterical laughter, and then heart-wrenching sobs, and then nothing more.

He glanced at the body next to him. Natsu still looked somewhat alive, with tanned skin, but that healthy blush was slowly fading, and paleness overtook him. Zeref felt a few more tears slide down his face as he crawled over to the boy. "I live in this world to crawl and beg and die." he said to the body, used to talking with no one but imagining a conversation. Imagining that Natsu could hear what was being said now. So, even if there was only a small chance, Zeref told him everything he thought Natsu would want to know. "I wish things could've been different. But wishing things will not make them so, unfortunately."

He imagined Natsu answering him back with something like, "You really are depressing." And Zeref would smile a tiny smile, so he did.

"I think that I am saddened by your death, despite the fact that you are not truly Natsu. You look exactly like him, speak like him, act like him. And maybe on some level you are him but… it just shall never be the same. You were so happy here, and I took such a thing away from you. I thought you would be angry enough to destroy me, but you weren't. It wasn't enough, and, in the end, I had to kill you… I will have to kill the world, but I do promise you this. We will be together again someday Natsu. I promise you, just the two of us. And by then, hopefully you can at least understand why I do this." Zeref finally pressed his forehead to Natsu, memories flashing in his mind.

Memories of being children, of playing together, smiling and laughing. Happy for everything they had, never once thinking about what they didn't. Trust and love, unconditional, and memories of their secret signal, touching forehead to express sorrow, and hope, and forgiveness, and love… an overwhelming feeling of love that could not be expressed in any other way. "I love you." Zeref always had, he always would. Natsu was worth this suffering, this pain, fake or not… Zeref would love every single version of him. "And thank you." He added, standing. The first thing he noticed, was that despite the warmth in his heart nothing around him perished.

He frowned, peering around to see if there perhaps just wasn't anything left to kill… or maybe, if he dared hope, the curse had been broken.

Zeref reached into his pocket and took out the knife he had, (the knife he always had) and made what was supposed to be a shallow cut on his hand, much deeper. Blood welled up from the wound and poured down his wrist, dripping on to the ground. Zeref frowned, staring at the wound, waiting for it to heal, and waiting for the pain to leave, but it didn't. "I don't understand… why won't it stop?" he wondered aloud, frowning as more and more dark liquid dribbled down his arm. Eventually, after many minutes of standing there, trying to remember how to stop the bleeding of a wound, Zeref remembered he had to cover it. So, he tore a piece of cloth that had already been ripped, from his clothes, and wrapped it around his hand. After a few seconds, the cloth was soaked with blood, making Zeref frown some more. Obviously, the cloth was not strong enough, so he tore more cloth, bigger and less flimsy, from his clothes again and wrapped it around his hand even tighter than last time. That seemed to do the trick for now, so Zeref, occupied his remaining time, looking around at the barren wasteland. There was nothing left, everything was gone. Magnolia was no more and other towns in Fiore were doubtlessly the same.

After a few more minutes he heard Mavis in the distant, calling out names, so Zeref decided to pay her a visit. She was the only one he'd allow to live for now. So, he gave Natsu's body one last glance, his heart clenching, tears demanding to be let free, and then he left. Because there was nothing left to do. Mavis was standing a few yards away from him, wide eyes asking silent questions and Zeref's blank stare answering every last one of them.

* * *

 **End of memory**

And in the supply closet Zeref yawned, reaching up to turn off the light but not before giving the picture a long, meaningful look and a teary smile. Emotions were coming a bit easier to him now, especially with Natsu involved. "I promised you, Natsu. And as you very well know, I don't break my promises." Echoes of Zeref saying the exact same thing so many years ago came to his mind; only a few days before Natsu's death.

 _"_ _Don't be concerned. I said I'd protect you. I promised you, Natsu. And as you very well know, I don't break my promises."_ He remembered Natsu's smile bouncing across his face, his giggle of amusement. Happiness and love dancing in his dark eyes. And of course, his reply,

 _"I know."_ And in the end, that had been the only promise that ever truly mattered.

* * *

 **A/N Here is the new chapter! I hope you guys liked it and I hope the reason for breaking the curse was okay... I came up with it after a few minutes of slamming my head into the wall (I didn't really, but I felt like doing so.) So, please tell me what you think, reviews/follows/favorites appreciated! Thanks and I'll see you guys soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

Zeref awoke to light spilling into the closet and a tiny shriek of surprise. Then, a voice, "Zeref what are you doing!" Mavis cried. Zeref's eyes shot open, immediately alert. He panted, sweating slightly. He was glad to be awoken. Nothing but nightmares awaited him in his sleep.

"Good day, Mavis." Zeref said breathlessly.

"What are you doing in this supply closet?"  
"Sleeping." Zeref deadpanned, as if it were obvious.

"Well, yeah, I know, but why?"

"Because… because I wanted to?" Zeref felt like he asked a question of his own rather than answer hers.

"What were you dreaming about?" Mavis asked suddenly. She'd doubtlessly saw the sweat on his brow and figured he had been dreaming about something.

"Nothing important… I already forgot." Zeref said, shrugging. He stood up and felt a tiny twinge in his neck. He brought his hand up and rubbed slightly. Apparently tiny aches and pains were part of being mortal though Zeref was not accustomed to them. But he decided to ignore them because he didn't think there was anything else he could do.

"Uh… the captain wanted me to tell you that we're almost to Pargrande." Mavis said after a couple moments of silence.

"I see… and why didn't he send a messenger or a soldier to do it?"

"Well, they're all afraid of you and I said I would go."

"What were they doing? Putting names in a cup to see who had to come find me?" Zeref attempted a joke, fairly sure that his expression ruined the desired effect.

"Do you really want to know?" Mavis asked seriously.

"Yes?"

"Well, they didn't put names in a cup, but only because it took too long. They drew straws instead, whoever got the short straw had to come wake you up. Before they could continue with that ridiculous game, I volunteered." Mavis said. Zeref smiled somewhat amusedly,

"Is that so?"

"It is."

"… You got the short straw, didn't you?" Zeref felt his amusement grow a little when her facial expression changed to guilty for a minute before she returned to smiling her tiny smile.

"Do you really want to know?" this time, it was more of a joke then an actual question.

"No, I don't believe I do." Zeref said good humoredly and stood. "But the fact remains that we are almost there, therefore Pargrande will no doubt start shooting at us, trying to knock us out of the sky, OR, and this is the preferred option. Since we've arrived in their airship they will think we are soldiers from Pargrande, come back to report; then we can ambush them. We'll have the captain speak, and we should probably head there quickly. The moment our ship is spotted someone will probably call in, asking why we've returned."

Mavis nodded, "That sounds like something I'd do. So, you're attacking today?"

"The way you phrased that, I'm guessing you're not coming this time."

"I'm done watching people die. The only reason I'm still here is because I've nowhere else to go."

"And love me?"

"No." she answered flatly.

"… I figured, but it never hurts to check." Zeref shrugged. "That's alright, I've still got time… alright, I have to go wipe out this civilization I suppose. It might get pretty dangerous out there.

"Yeah…" Mavis said wistfully.

"Oh, and Mavis," Zeref turned to her, seeming to remember something he was supposed to do before he left, "please close your eyes and hold out your hands." Mavis raised an eyebrow, wondering where he was going with this ridiculous game.

"Alright." She sighed and held out her hands, uncurling her fingers. She felt something light placed into her palms and kept her eyes shut tightly, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, she asked, "Can I open my eyes now?" no one answered her. Mavis slowly peeked one eye open and then the other. Zeref was gone. Mavis frowned, looking around the small closet before realizing he'd left her. "Stupid prick." She grumbled, glancing down at what he'd placed into her hand. It was a lacrima of some sort, but she had no idea what it did or why he would give this to her. Mavis didn't think that Zeref would give her this small device for no reason other than being able to say he got her a present.

He must've given her some sort of hint at what this device might do, as he wouldn't hand her a useless crystal either. But the only sentence she could think of was,

 _It might get pretty dangerous out there._

This device must be something to help her get out of a sticky situation and if things did get bad, the best lacrima for her to have would be teleportation so she could just get out without having to fight or kill anybody. So, she was almost certain that the lacrima in her hand was a teleportation lacrima.

But what he didn't know was that she could use this any time… this could be her chance to leave him but… Zeref wasn't completely stupid. He most definitely would've thought of that. Meaning that…

Had what she said really bothered him? About the only reason staying because she couldn't go anywhere else? This lacrima wasn't designed just to help her. Even when doing something selfless he still somehow managed to slide selfish reasons in there. This was to help him not feel guilty. To assure himself that she was here of her own accord. Because he wouldn't be able to stand it if he felt like he was kidnapping her.

He really just wanted her to be happy, she realized. How could she blame him for that? Were his reasons really so selfish? Maybe they weren't selfish, so much as they were human, and that surprised her. Because Zeref disliked doing things that ordinary mortals did.

She decided to show him that just because he gave her the option to run away, she wasn't going to take it. She would stay, even if it meant she had to watch as horrible things were done to others on a daily basis.

Mavis made her way out of the closet and down the hall to the control center where the few soldiers who didn't leave dwelled. Invel was there also, surprising her. "Invel, I didn't know you'd be here." She said. "I thought you'd be out on the front lines with Zeref." Invel shrugged.

"His majesty wanted me to sit this one out. He said I should… rest." Mavis frowned,

"Did he leave anyone else behind?"

"He left Sir August and Lady Brandish behind." Invel said.

"Do you know why?

Invel shook his head. "No, but I assume it's because he doesn't trust us. His majesty has always been rather paranoid. He probably kept me here because of how many questions I've been asking. Brandish because at the end of the war she was rather close with the Heartfillia girl. And August… well, I'm not sure about him yet."

Mavis, curious by nature was determined to figure out why Zeref had left him behind as well. From what she understood, August was one of his best soldiers. It made no sense to keep him inside, unless he really was paranoid, or had a valid reason to be. Though, with the case of Invel and Brandish Zeref didn't really need much reason to be paranoid, since his brain probably made up all sorts of things.

She glanced outside and down below she saw smoke and felt spikes of magic power again and again. "Why don't you go talk to August. I'm sure he knows." Invel said after a while making her jump from the sudden noise, but she turned around and nodded.

"Yeah… maybe I will."

It wasn't like she had anything better to do. So, she stood up and started to go find him but then, "Uh, where is he?"

Invel shrugged. "Probably in the library."

Mavis nodded and then, as an after-thought, said, "This ship has a library?"

"I wouldn't know, but if it does, I can assure you he'll be there." Mavis gave a tiny giggle,

"Sounds like me." She said and skipped off, hoping to find a library. Maybe they'd have books on fairies, ones she'd never read before since it was about 100 years since she last read a book. That might make this day worth her while.

"Then, I guess I'll look around." She said. Invel just shrugged and turned around presumably to tell the pilot all the ways he wasn't aiding the emperor.

Mavis left though, before she could hear a word. She started wandering around the ship, finding a tiny kitchen, a few sleeping quarters, and several weapon cabinets and supplies.

Opening what she believed to be another closet but quickly realizing it was not like the rest. When opening it she saw a dark figure inside and gasped, much like she had when finding Zeref.

August's looked up to meet her gaze. "Is this… like, the library?" she asked.

Though, what she was looking at was less of a library and more of a supplies closet with a few books. "No." he answered. "This is a closet." He explained.

"I know I'm not blind! I just… it's a joke." She said finally, sighing.

"Oh."

"Yeah… I actually came here because Zeref asked you to stay behind? Apparently, he asked Brandish and Invel to do the same. Do you know why?"

"Yes, I do. But I don't think I should tell you…"

"Please!" Mavis cried, curiosity eating her alive.

August looked hesitant, but he said, "His majesty wanted me to stay behind to protect plan B. He says that he thinks someone is trying to steal it. I don't think that's the case, but you know how paranoid he gets. It's hard for him sometimes, to tell dream from reality. Having bad dreams or memories can make him especially paranoid when he wakes up, convinced we're all betraying him."

"I see…" Mavis said. "I guess that sounds like him. Do you know how to stop it?"

"Usually by doing exactly what he says, though it's a bit hard to tell when he's emotionally unstable."

"You'd think that if he was emotionally unstable he'd look… well, emotionally unstable!"

"Yes, well, we usually can't tell until he's killed himself a few times. Tries to, anyway."

"You've got to be kidding me." Mavis grumbled. The new plan that she had been formulating in her mind of how to get Zeref to stop this foolishness had just gone down the drain… maybe. "How do you feel about this?" she asked. "About… you know, creating this "new world" of his?"

"I can't say that I like it, however where his majesty goes, we loyal soldiers and advisors follow. He is an inspiration to us all." Mavis wondered just what sort of inspiration that was, and then figured that she did not want to know.

"What if you decided to nudge him in a different direction?" August was silent for a while, presumably contemplating, until he spoke.

"I don't think that would mean betraying his majesty."

"Exactly!" Mavis exclaimed. "It's like when someone asks you if you think they should pursue a career. You shrug your shoulders and say that they should go where they are happy while casually dropping a few clues you think they should be a doctor!"

August clearly did not make the connection between the two but he seemed to ignore it and file it as unimportant. What Mavis had in mind was a little less of dropping a few hints and more of shoving the person toward medical school. But Zeref had a thick skull that Mavis felt needed to be pounded on with a sledge hammer before he finally understood.

"Alright, then let's wait till he gets back!" Mavis said cheerfully, before explaining the plan she had in minimal detail, so that August would not run away.

* * *

After meeting with the pilot and basically telling him what to say, they landed in port, the center of the city. Humans were such fools even though they had such potential. It was sad, really. The hatch opened and Zeref commanded his troops to go in guns blazing. His soldiers didn't question his orders, not like _Invel_ would've. Zeref scowled at the thought of that miserable human being. Questioning his orders, not trusting him, probably plotting behind his back! Zeref found himself left alone to stew in his own thoughts as his soldiers took out the first few people that they saw.

Their orders were to kill everyone that they saw, man, woman, or child. Old or young, weak or strong; everyone.

Zeref clapped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. To anyone else he would appear to be praying and had anyone asked Zeref would've laughed at their foolishness. He was trying to calm himself. It was crazy to think that Invel would betray him, that Brandish would betray him when he knew that those were ludicrous options. Brandish was a human, she made connections with other people. Invel was human, he would have questions. Zeref shouldn't read so much into it, but he couldn't help it. What was he to do? Simply ignore it? He wished he could, but the voices in his head would not let him.

He had thought that the voices were part of the curse, and it's contradiction. But somewhere along the way the voices had become apart of him, eating away bit by bit.

 _This is wrong._ One said

 _No, it's not. They deserve this._ Said another.

 _You should be king just look at all these wimpy humans! You can rule!_

 _Maybe you should crawl into a hole and die. No one would care._

 _They're all going to betray you! Kill them all!  
You don't want to kill anyone._

 _Let's hide…_

 _Natsu! You want Natsu back, don't you? Why aren't you doing that? And what about Mavis? Don't you want her? Clean up your act!_

 _No, this is what you need!_

So many voices, all screaming at him. Doing this meditative position helped calm them down. The voices had never wanted to hurt him, but they each thought they knew what was best for him and wouldn't shut up until he chose. Unfortunately, according to Mavis he ended up choosing the wrong thing a lot.

Sometimes, he wondered if any of the voices were right or if they were all right, and he was wrong. But the voices were him, right? Insanity was his very life, and Zeref tried so hard to control it, tried so hard to keep everyone away from it. He didn't know how much longer he could though. Every single one of his soldiers knew the length of his insanity, and everyone knew what he was like on a bad day. He supposed, he hadn't really been hiding it since everyone knew, and he hadn't gone to great lengths to keep it hidden from them. But with Mavis here… he couldn't let her see. She'd already seen a glimpse of it when he'd tried to kill himself. He didn't want her to see anything else. He didn't want her to know how broken he was though… he supposed she already knew.

It wasn't that difficult to figure out and Mavis was a genius. "Your majesty, are you alright?" Zeref snapped to attention, figuring that by how confused the guard looked, his name had been called a few times without response.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Everyone has been taken out. They're all dead as you ordered." Zeref nodded.

"Then let's keep moving into the city."

* * *

"You think we should?" August asked in the hall closet. Despite the minimal detail August was still horrified, but at least he didn't run. Mavis nodded. By the look on his face her suspicions had been confirmed. She knew that what she was about to do to Zeref was horribly wrong, but what he was doing was horribly wrong also.

This could break him, she knew it could. Break whatever was left of him, anyway. He would probably hate her forever. It probably wouldn't even stop him, but if he would just second-guess… maybe that was all that was needed. "So, you pretend… to be dying." August confirmed. Mavis nodded.

"Precisely."

"And this helps him, how?"

"Well, you said it yourself. You think what he is doing is wrong." August looked like he wanted to object, but he didn't interrupt her so she continued. "He is killing innocent people. Their family, friends, the entire world. Everyone on the outside of this airship is getting slaughtered. He is murdering children, August! Do you understand? Children who he claims are useless! How can he say that? How can he just _decide_ who lives and dies? How can he accuse children who have never been born and say they are useless!" Mavis knew she was screaming now, though she wasn't angry at August. She didn't even know who she was angry at anymore. Whether it was Zeref or this world or herself, she only knew that she was angry about what was happening. "How can he do it?" tears slid down her cheeks. "How can he condemn humanity when he is human himself? Or is he? Am I wrong?" Mavis slid to the floor.

"What you're about to do is no worse then what he's already doing." August told her quietly.

"What else can I do!" she screamed. "This is the only way to make him see how much he is hurting others! I don't know any other way. Please if you know another way tell me! Tell me and I'll do it! You think I want to hurt him! You-you think I…" Mavis could barely put her thoughts into words anymore as the caliber of what was happening hit her like a sledge hammer. "I've been calm about this." She said quietly. "I don't know if I can be calm much longer."

"This isn't right."

"Then tell me what is. What's so wrong about saving humanity?" August's brows furrowed together and he leaned forward in his seat.

"But that's the problem, isn't it." He whispered softly.

"What?" she asked, not seeing a problem.

"You think that what you're about to do, no matter how wrong it is, will save humanity." Mavis nodded. "That's what his majesty thinks too. He doesn't think there's another way."

Mavis sniffed, her fingers trembling. "What if… what if there isn't?"

"There's always a better way." Mavis shook her head, knowing that wasn't true.

"Well, I'm going to start preparing for when he comes back." Mavis said, standing up, calm once more after a tiny meltdown. But before she left she told him,

"August, I understand what you're saying, and maybe you're right… but we don't have all the time in the world to skip around sucking lollipops as we think of better ways. This is happening now. There isn't time to think of better ways… I don't have time to think of a better way. But if you think of one… come find me."

As Mavis slipped out of the closet she closed the door gently behind her. There wasn't time to think of better ways. Zeref was acting now so she had to as well. Nothing was stopping him, nothing was happening to make him _want_ to stop.

And she didn't want to do this to him. She cared about him, even though she didn't want to. Just thinking about how this might affect him made her shiver. But this was the only immediate solution. She could make him second-guess his actions. She could make him stop all his progress. She could stall things before thinking of a permanent fix… a fix that would likely include his death.

She should probably start planning that too. Their deaths. What she hadn't told August was that this _was_ the better way. For her, anyway. Then, she wouldn't have to do what needed to be done. The other way, the first thing that had sprung into her head made her feel sick. This was what war did to people. She remembered smiling and being happy and everything being so simple. She remembered how Zeref used to be a nightmare that she never really visited. He had been fictional, and if she locked him away she could even pretend that he wasn't real. She didn't want him to be real. Especially not now. She thought about his hollow expression and shaking hands, his voice void of emotion. And then, filled with panic and pain and anxiety. An expression she could never fully describe, and of which could never be replicated. Then before, when he had been calm and gentle. When the tiniest of smiles would creep onto his face. Her head was filled with images of him, all flashing before her eyes in a moment.

He was getting to her.

The option she did not want to take was killing him, of course. Sneaking up and stabbing him in the back. This was the better option, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how wrong it was, no matter if it broke him. This was the better option whether or not it was wrong. She didn't have time, that was the one thing that she did not have.

She had a knife in her boot for backup (the knife that she had pocketed when she found Zeref trying to kill himself) because if this didn't work then the better option would have to be thrown out the window to make room for the original plan. She also took the lacrima he had given her and had every intention of throwing it away but decided not to. If she was forced to kill him she'd need a quick escape route to run before any of the soldiers could catch up with her.

But that was a last resort, if a resort at all. Mavis had never purposely killed anyone and she seriously doubted if she would have the nerve to do it or not.

She set up her "play" and went over what she was going to say, or rather gasp, to him when he came back. There would need to be a reason as to why she was hurt after all, but she didn't want him to start blaming any of the guards… eventually, she decided on a story that was not detailed, but that he was sure to buy.

August talked of better options like they just popped up out of thin air. Mavis knew, however that this took time and what August had brought up about Zeref and Mavis doing the same thing was very disturbing for her, but she convinced herself that this was different. She wasn't killing anybody after all… well, with the plan she was about to put into motion anyway.

She didn't know how long he'd be gone, but it couldn't be for much longer. She was ready to put phase 1 into action. This was the only option she had, so she would stick with it till the end. "Alright." She whispered taking a deep breath as she heard commotion around the airship. This could only mean that they were back. So she pressed the emergency button on the side of the aircraft. Red lights and beeps started flashing all around, making her ears hurt. Shouts and yells came from everywhere, confusion. Mavis coated herself in illusion, made blood drip from a few places and a look of pain crossed her face as she fell to the ground.

"Mavis!" she heard a scream and willed herself to not to move. She had chosen to do this, there was no coming back from it, no matter how much it pained her.

No matter how wrong it was.

No matter if it hurt.

This was the better way… and there was no coming back from it.

* * *

 **A/N I've been working on this all week and in a burst of inspiration I have a new chapter for you! The purpose of this chapter was Mavis connecting a little with a few other characters/talking to other characters. Mainly August, but maybe I'll slide Brandish in there. The other focus of this chapter was to give you a little insight on how serious Zeref's insanity is too. So, I hope you liked it. Reviews/favorites/follows are enjoyable for me, so feel free to do any of those. Thanks for reading and to those that have reviewed this story. I will (hopefully) see you next week, bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

button had been pulled, they had traced the source. Zeref ran to her, quicker than he thought humanly possible. "Are you okay?" but it quickly became apparent that she was not. Zeref dropped to his knees, "Mavis?" was she even alive? Blood trailed from her body and soaked his hands.

Mavis' eyes fluttered open, he could barely see through the tears in his eyes. What had happened to her? Was she alright? "Zeref I… there was someone, I… I couldn't see them, but…"

"Shh, don't talk." He said, putting a finger to her lips. She didn't say another word and closed her eyes. Zeref didn't know where the infirmary was, no one else had come to check on Mavis, Zeref didn't know healing magic, what was he to do? He couldn't let her die. He knew, that with the way she was bleeding, it wouldn't take long for her to bleed out. He could see her skin getting paler and paler, her death, it was coming. Visions flashed in his mind, countless people, murder, death, screams, all filled his mind. Then, the voices,

 _Finish her._

 _Go hide._

 _A minor setback, who cares?_

 _No one cares, you should just die._

Zeref clutched his head and screamed, "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't…" tears slid down his cheeks, blurring his visions, shrieks tore themselves from his throat sobs, choking their way through. The voices, all at once, screaming at him to choose! But he didn't want to. He didn't want to choose he just… he couldn't take it. He couldn't lose her too. Everything felt numb, like he wasn't alive, floating in the vast nothingness, waiting for a sound, but hearing none.

His senses were lost to him, nothing was real, his soul, his body, mind, none of it was real. Insanity clawed at the back of his mind, as visions of bodies and fires, orange and hot seared themselves into his very being, permanently. Glass shards cut him piece by piece, deeper and deeper until he could no longer register the pain, yet he knew they hurt. Down to his soul where they tore him apart, reality and dreams crashed together. Fires, dragons, screams, and tears. Fear, and pink "Zeref," they called to him, but he did not want to listen. They all called his name, they all wanted answers, wanted his soul in exchange for their lives.

Red clouded his vision, empty echoes of voices and anger, hatred, fear, melded together to create nothing. He was too far gone, he couldn't come back, nothing helped, everything was numb, he had no connection to others. "Zeref." The voices whispered again. Then touch, skin on skin, human, touching him.

Zeref's eyes flicked open and he screamed. It echoed and reached his ears, making him flinch, tears, and color, not red. Nowhere was red. A dream? No blood, no voices, no screams, no souls. "Shh…" Mavis, above him. He thought she was hurt.

"Mavis." He rasped, his throat raw. Mavis nodded.

"You had a nightmare." She explained. That made sense.

"You died…" he said. Mavis smiled softly, sadly,

"I'm right here, it's okay now. I'm not dead nor am I dying. You came down the hallway and collapsed. A little while after, you started screaming and sobbing. I've been trying to wake you up for a few minutes.

Lies, they were all lies, but the sounded plausible anyway. She made them plausible. Guilt ate away at her. August had been right, she was no better than him. In fact, she was worse. She didn't have the excuse of insanity. "I fell asleep?" he breathed, his eyes glazed. Mavis nodded,

"Yes." Zeref gulped.

"It felt… it felt so real." He told her quietly. "I was sure…" Mavis squeezed him tighter,

"Just a bad dream. I'm here now, after all." Zeref's eyes were questioning for only a moment, but then he nodded, his body sagging with relief.

"You're right." He said quietly and Mavis nodded. "Were you worried?" he asked.

"Yes, Zeref. I was very worried." He smiled like this was good, but Mavis didn't comment on it. She very likely didn't want to know what was running through his head.

She soon noticed that she was still sort of hugging him, and let go, moving backwards a bit. "So… um, we're heading back to Alverez now, right?" she asked. He nodded, seeming to calm down once more, much to Mavis' relief. It seemed that no further damage had been done to him making her very grateful.

"Yes, we are. Now it's imperative that we regroup there and share if all the cities and towns in Pargrande were successfully defeated. After we regroup and share our findings, we can gather supplies and go to the next country, Bosco. I think that country will be rather easy to destroy considering it is a tenth the size of Pargrande." Mavis thought that was considerably smaller, and reluctantly agreed that it would be easier. "We'll take out the smaller countries and then move on to ones further out in the world, ones that Alverez might have more trouble destroying, though in the end, annihilation is inevitable." he said.

"I have no doubt." Mavis grumbled. She stood up then, not wanting to discuss world domination anymore and said, "I'm going to go to bed." Zeref blinked and then shot up,

"Do you need anything?" he asked, looking hopeful that she did, and he could help.

"No, I'm fine." she said and smiled.

"Oh… alright." Mavis felt guilty, and felt like she had to at least make up for some of what she had just done to him, so she said,

"Uh, well, I guess if you just tell everybody not to go in there…" Mavis trailed off as Zeref perked up and nodded.

"I can do that!" he exclaimed. Mavis grinned and nodded, glad.

"Good. That's all, I think. I took a tour, so I know where everything is."

"Okay, see you when you wake up!" Mavis nodded and then left.

Zeref stared at her retreating figure, waiting until she had turned the corner, before collapsing, body trembling. What he'd seen had been too real, why'd he pass out? None of it made sense. Zeref hadn't passed out in so long, in fact, he couldn't remember the last time it had happened. And there had been no reason for him to panic at random like that either… unless what he'd seen was real. But that was impossible, Mavis wouldn't lie to him.

"Uh, your majesty?" August asked quietly, slowly coming out of the supply closet.

"Have you talked to Mavis recently?" Zeref asked. August nodded. "You are going to tell me everything the two of you talked about, no matter how trivial."

"Everything?" Zeref nodded and ignored the voices in his head. They were annoying anyway. So, August told him about everything Mavis had talked about, and Zeref learned of her plan.

"She wanted me to see how much I was hurting others?"

"I tried to tell her it wouldn't have positive results, but she wouldn't listen."

Rather then angry Zeref found himself oddly amused. He never really got mad when others plotted ways to hurt or kill him, he just found himself amused. Though, more so when he was immortal. That was no longer the case anymore but that didn't make the urge or response go away. He had to admit, in theory Mavis' plan was really quite clever, though in practice, especially on someone as unstable as himself, rarely had positive effects or the desired result.

"You'd think she'd just kill me August. By not doing so do you think it's safe to say she cares for me?"

"In some form, probably."

If Mavis cared for him, perhaps there was hope still. "August… please go see if the pilot has set course for Alverez, there are other things I must attend to."

These other things consisted of keeping the voices under control and his general insanity and need to scream at everything. Zeref didn't even know how long he sat there, trying to keep them under control, but one moment he was alone, drifting throughout the sea of his own thoughts. The next, Invel was informing him that they had arrived in Alverez.

"Thank you." Zeref said quietly, standing. "Tell someone to go wake Mavis up." He mumbled as an afterthought. Invel nodded and left then, to go find a maid. Meanwhile, Zeref traveled to the front of the ship where once again, the hatch opened and everyone could pile out, Zeref in front, obviously. No one greeted them on the other side except for a few servants who immediately asked if they could do anything to help.

Zeref shook his head and continued onward. Alverez was a beautiful city, gold and marble, right on the coast with an abundance of food and resources. Zeref hadn't chosen this place for his empire because of it's beauty though. He'd chosen it because of it's power. A large piece of land, with fertile soil, right by the coast, and forests nearby. Wood, soil, the sea, it was all to be open to trade as well as protection. Alverez was basically an island, a very big island, but an island all the same. No matter where their enemies attacked it would have to be from the sea, meaning a large inconvenience for everyone but Alverez.

"Has anyone traveled from foreign countries recently?" he asked the servants. Two shook their heads while the third looked hesitant. "Speak up." Zeref said, glaring.

The servant gulped and said, "Do you mean anyone? Or just dignitaries?"

"Anyone and everyone."

"Well, there was this one group that came, they were rather odd, not from here they said, but they certainly weren't dignitaries of any kind despite wearing clothes that, when washed, were identified to be from Pargrande… why?"

"None of your concern." Zeref snapped and continued on. "How many were there?" he asked, pausing.

"Four." The servant answered. Zeref remained silent for a very long time,

"You're sure."

He nodded, frowning. Could it be those four from the airship that jumped? It was unlikely that they could reach Alverez in such a short amount of time, however not impossible if they had purchased or rented a speed boat to get there. They had jumped a little over half way to Alverez, at the very edge of Xilian into what Zeref could only assume had been a small town.

From there it was possible they had rented a boat and sailed to Alverez. However, the castle was in the middle… how was it possible they had reached the center in that amount of time? This servant wouldn't have heard about it otherwise. They could've flown, but airships were expensive… meaning, that these soldiers probably had outside help, possibly from within his own country which was more than a little unnerving.

"Where are they now?"

"Oh, well they left already…" Zeref wanted to be angry and yell about how they should not have just let them go, but Zeref hadn't really told anyone but the army that they were going to war with the world, it would send the country into panic and that was the last thing Zeref needed. The operation they were undergoing was of the utmost secrecy, and before the war Pargrande had been one of their most prominent trading partners, always welcome in the country.

There was no way he could get mad at anyone but himself for his own paranoia. If he hadn't been so distrusting of his own staff perhaps, they could've found the fugitives and figured out who had betrayed him.

"Your majesty?" Invel asked, looking at him in concern.

"I'm fine." Zeref said irritably. "Just fine… we'll be able to find them. Send a small search party, they couldn't have gone far…" he turned back to the servants. "How long ago did they leave?"

"I don't know… an hour or two?"

"See, they couldn't have gotten far, we should be able to find them in no time. Especially since they're stupid enough to not only alert us to their presence but to also leave behind traces of where they have been AND are wearing clothes made in Pargrande." Clothes from Pargrande had distinct differences from those in Alverez. Considering that Alverez clothes were made of cotton and Pargrande was made of silk since they were high-class.

"I will round up a search team right away. Do you wish to come?" Zeref frowned but shook his head.

"No, there are other things to attend to." He didn't think this was much of a problem and could be solved easily if the right people were given the job. He saw no immediate repercussions anyway, so it'd be better just to stay, in case the capital was attacked, which at this point, was very likely.

"Okay, do you want me to go with the search team?" Invel asked. Zeref nodded, allowing himself to listen to the voice that told him to trust Invel, that he could, because Invel had never betrayed him, nor would he ever…

"Yes, I appoint you leader. Round up some other knights/soldiers and take them out as well."

"We will not let you down, sire."

"I certainly hope not." Zeref said and kept moving.

He entered the castle without further interruption and wondered what was taking Mavis so long to wake up, he wanted to talk to her.

* * *

"Uh, miss Mavis. We've just arrived in Alverez and his majesty sent me to wake you up..."

Mavis groaned, her eyes opening slightly. She didn't want to get up, that would make the nightmare she was living come true. "Five more minutes…"

"His majesty really wanted to speak with you."

Mavis sat up and glared at the woman, "This is how much I care." She said and flipped over to go back to sleep.

There was silence for a few minutes before the woman said, "Milady…"

"That's it, I'm up." Mavis growled, hopping out of bed. "But this better be good." She said giving the woman her best glare. She paused and gulped before quickly following her out of the bedroom.

Mavis then realized that she didn't know where the exit was and sighed, "Exit?"

"Down this way." She said, taking the lead. Mavis was led out of the airship and for the first time in a while her feet touched the ground, instantly making her more cheerful. Mavis didn't really want to go see Zeref, because what she wanted to do was jump for joy and go find the nearest book and tree to sit and read under.

That would be ideal, but the universe seemed intent on not giving her what she wanted. She wanted it to stop, but again, the universe wasn't giving her what she wanted, so it wouldn't stop.

Mavis was led to the throne room, where Zeref, was comedically rushing around. "Mavis," Zeref turned, "I'm so glad you're here! I-I mean, I want to talk to you about something and I'd like it if you could answer honestly."  
Mavis, frowning, nodded. "I'll answer you honestly to the best of my abilities." She promised.

"Then, could you tell me…" he paused, and Mavis could literally feel his apprehension. She felt her heart soften slightly, wondering what could be so important that he was cautious about telling, even her, "Do you think my robes look like a dress?" Mavis' frown deepened. "I mean, I've had people tell me they do before, but I never started thinking about it until Natsu told me I look like a girl. Now I've been wondering if the reason my guards seem not have as much respect for me anymore is because I dress like this?"

Mavis wondered if he was being self-conscious or if it was paranoia again. Either way, she had thought this was going to be about something to do with the war, not wardrobe choice. "You're a girl, right? What do you think?"

Had he really just said that? He wanted her opinion on that? "I don't know." She said, not really concerned for such things.

"Do you think people who wear a certain type of wardrobe are more likely to win?" he wondered absentmindedly.

"I… don't know." Mavis said again.

"What about…" Zeref trailed off and then shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. "I mean… ah, nothing never mind." He said walking off in a different direction as if completely forgetting about what he'd been talking about.

"What do you think about guns…" Zeref said wistfully. "Do you think they could be of any use. Or maybe, I could resurrect an undead army…" Zeref thought about that for a while,

"Why don't we go back to the gun idea." Mavis said quickly, not wanting him affiliated with dead people anymore than he already had been. "Why do you think they could help?"

"Well, they're from a long time ago, no one would be expecting them. They are rather loud but most of them can travel longer distances than magic can. Overall, it'd be rather useful. Perhaps we should install some more cannons too… Mavis, do you think I could pull of a tricorn hat?"

"No." Mavis said bluntly. "The robes you wear is fine and being hatless is fine too."

"Maybe I should wear some pants, that would be good right? Maybe a collared-shirt. For war. Do you think people would like that?"  
"Would you like that?"

"Probably not." Zeref said.

"What is with you rambling on about absolutely nothing like an idiot?" Mavis asked, not understanding where all these random ideas were coming from.

"The correct term, would be brainstorming." Zeref corrected. "I'm simply wondering if certain things could help us win the war, is that so wrong?"

"It is when you're trying to give up your sense of self."

Zeref shrugged. "What about this, picture it. Ships are coming from all over, surrounding the island. All my soldiers are fighting to the best of their abilities, but they're being outnumbered by the sheer amount of forces. Things are not ending in our favor; all hope is lost!" he paused. "Now picture this. I come out, collared shirt, pants, tricorn, and all. Seeing me in such clothes gives the army strength and they-."

"What are you talking about? Zeref this is ludicrous, and you know it."

"Ludicrous or ingenious?" Zeref wondered, smiling slightly.  
"Retarded." Mavis answered blandly. Zeref sighed and said,

"You're right… a sailors cap would be better then a tricorn. You're a genius!" Zeref hurried off to go bother some other random person. "Oh wait," he said, obviously having forgotten something. "Did anyone tell you that people from Pargrande were spotted today?"

"No." Mavis said.

"Yes, well Invel is gathering up a search team and I was wondering if perhaps you wished to join."

Mavis said, "I don't think that's a good idea. I'm not much into searching for people and such…"

"That's alright, I was just wondering. I didn't think it was something you would be interested in, but it never hurts to ask. Now then, I was wondering if you'd like to come with me, I'm going to go make some final adjustments to a device of mine and I believe that you could help." Zeref seemed to be getting nervous again,

"What is it?" she asked suspiciously, knowing that if Zeref was nervous it was either ridiculous or interesting.

"It… well, it's my plan B."

And so, the true apprehension behind this discussion was shown. This was the part Zeref was nervous about, not about whether he looked good and professional in his robes or not, much to Mavis' relief. Thankfully, he was not as insane as she was beginning to think.

"Yes, I'll help you, depending on what this plan B is."

Zeref gave her a carefully controlled, fake smile and nodded. "Yes, then come with me please. I will show you. This is the only way wiping out humanity is going to work, and if you are given knowledge to this plan you must never tell anyone else about it. Not unless it's me or August. Do you understand?"

Mavis nodded apprehensively, knowing that this device was Zeref's only way to destroy humanity, something he'd probably spent a life-time creating. If she were to destroy it perhaps, she wouldn't have to kill or harm Zeref. But Zeref wasn't stupid, he was paranoid. He must really trust her which is why Mavis felt guilty for even thinking about betraying that trust.

"Can I trust you with this?" he asked, leading her to where she presumed the device was. Mavis knew he couldn't, "Remember, you promised to answer as honestly as possible." Mavis bit her lip and clenched her fists.

"Yes." She gave him a fake smile as well. "You can." Deception like this tore her apart but what was she supposed to do? She convinced herself that this was no worse then what he was doing to everyone else, but the problem with that was she didn't want to be like him in any way. She didn't want to be not as bad as him, she wanted to be a better person then he was and even that want was going down the drain.

She convinced herself she was only trying to keep humanity alive. She convinced herself that this would save it. Not like Zeref was, planning to create a perfect world with perfect humans. No such thing as perfect belonged in the same sentence with humanity. Zeref knew this, she knew this, everyone in the world knew this, as it had been repeated throughout their lives. But Zeref wasn't listening to it. He believed he could do the impossible and Mavis was determined to make him see better, even if it meant hell, even if it meant she was dragged down with him. Because in the end she supposed it didn't matter who was the better person between the two of them was. It didn't matter whose way of saving humanity was better. In the end morals and truth and honor didn't matter. All that mattered was who won, not the means to get there. Nobody would remember that. Nobody would remember the suffering and the pain, nor the grief and the desperation. They would only remember actions and results, nothing else.

Deception and distrust were what would ensure her victory. Love had no place in war, just as honesty had no place between enemies. She would lie to him, over and over again in this twisted world as long as it remained twisted. He hadn't created his perfect reality yet, he hadn't succeeded and so the world remained filled with lies and imperfections. Mavis was determined to keep it filled with such things so that love and understanding could remain. She would use her imperfections, her humanity to defeat him no matter what she had to do.

Her soul would mean nothing, her actions would mean nothing, nothing would mean anything if he was allowed to win. His love for perfection, his strive for perfection when he could achieve no such thing would destroy him. His humanity, his trust and love for her is what she would use against him.

Being better than him had no meaning if he was allowed to win. She could deal with the hurt and pain and moral dilemmas later. Now there was only a goal and only so much time to fulfill it.

Her lies would tear her apart someday. Her humanity would tear her apart someday, even when the world was burning to ash and nothing was left the hatred, lies, imperfection, it would all remain. Eras came to an end, countries fell, civilizations were destroyed, worlds died. Humanity was dead and gone, but it rose again. Time and time again, and such was the way of eternity.

* * *

 **A/N Thanks for all the reviews and support. Here is a new chapter, rather dark and something I started wondering about. I hope you enjoyed and if you are confused or see any errors you can tell me, I hate typos and stuff. Again, thank you all for reading and hopefully I will be out with another chapter next week. Reviews/follows/favorites all appreciated and welcome! Bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Come on then." Zeref said, leading her along. He really hoped she hadn't picked up on his nervousness when speaking of this plan B, he didn't want her to know he didn't trust her, though he didn't. That was why he tried to distract her with a bunch of nonsense, even though that hadn't seemed to work, he figured it had still been worth a try.

They walked down the long hallway until the two reached a plain wooden door. Zeref opened it and they walked inside. "This is it…" as soon as the door opened Mavis was hit with a wave nausea. The magic inside the room was pulsing and Mavis panted slightly from being near it. That wasn't the only problem, it was also filled with an abundance of destructive death magic. Zeref seemed unaffected by it, so she hid her discomfort as well, as he'd probably have been concerned and she would never get to know what the device did.

"What is it?" she asked him, eyes wide. It was fairly large and practically crackled with magical energy. Being near it was enough to make her dizzy.

"Plan B." Zeref answered, his hands opening and clenching into fists a few times as he glanced nervously from the device to Mavis, though she could see he was trying desperately to hide it. And, if Zeref showed his nervousness on his usually blank face, Mavis knew he had to be really nervous. "It will release a shock wave of magic power, designed to kill all human life. It has been gathering magic for years upon years…" he glanced at her. "It is part of my life work. Before this takes affect we must get the new civilization up and running. It won't affect them because they're not quite the same as us… they're perfect, after all." Mavis shook her head still unable to believe perfect beings had been made by an imperfect one.

"Zeref, we don't need perfection. What we need is love." She told him, but Zeref wasn't listening to her and went on with his explanation, annoying her greatly, like what she had to say on the matter was unimportant.

"It's meant to kill all the stragglers left on Earth… it's meant to destroy anyone who managed to escape."

"What I don't understand, is why you call it a plan B. Wouldn't it be more accurate to say it's part 2 of plan A?"

"Perhaps, but that would make people more curious. And this project requires me to be inconspicuous. If people knew about it, it could ruin me… I probably shouldn't have told you that." Zeref mumbled quieter as an afterthought.

"Too late." She said, because the words could not be taken back. "Hey, Zeref." She furrowed her brows. "How long did it take to make this?"

"Centuries. It probably wouldn't take as long now since I have the design and such, but it would take years to rebuild."

"Years, huh…" Mavis trailed off, staring at the flickering orb.

"Don't even think about touching it." Mavis snapped out of her trance and glanced at him. His eyes were narrowed at her. "Or else."

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a fact. If you touch this orb with anything from your hand to your magic it is designed to self-destruct. But all the magical residue has to go somewhere, so it does what it was made for. It will wipe out all humans on the planet, no one will remain. It means that I don't get what I want, but no one else will get what they want either."

Again, the universe did not give her what she wanted. "That's really childish of you." She said.

"I don't much care anymore." Zeref said. "Call it childish if you wish, it's just another restriction humans have put on their society. Stereotypical mortals, claiming certain things to be childish just to prove that anything they say will be interpreted as such."

Mavis didn't really think it went as deep as that, but she saw no reason to argue, so she let it drop. "I will never understand you."

"You don't have to understand me. I'm the only one who understands me. Just as you are the only one who understands you. For example, I will probably never understand why you lied to me."

Mavis frowned, confused. She didn't know what he was talking about, which scared her. She had lied to him so many times, she didn't know which lie he was talking about. How far she had fallen, and she hadn't even spent a week with him.

"When you pulled the emergency button and pretended to be hurt, to get me to see how much I was hurting others."

"You spoke to August." She guessed. He had told Zeref everything, though she couldn't really blame him. She probably never should've trusted him with that plan anyway. She had just wanted to see if he had known a better way, which he had not. So, it was a waste of trust.

"I don't expect you to tell me what was running through you head, or why you thought it was a good idea, but instead of being angry I find myself amused."

That was only a further reminder of just how insane he was. Any person with half a mind of sanity, would have the sense to be angry, but he was amused. Amused! Of all things. "Only you would be amused about that." Mavis said, though she herself was rather saddened by that fact. There was something seriously wrong with him, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't know how to help that. Mavis sighed and said,

"Listen, Zeref. If I had found a better way I would've used it. But I couldn't think of one, not on the spot like that. I had no way of knowing how much that would hurt you, so for that, I'm sorry. But, I'm not sorry about trying to save humanity from your twisted world. Justice will be served Zeref, it always is."

Zeref only laughed, she could hear the coldness in it. "Justice… don't talk to me about justice. There is none."

"It's out there Zeref, and it will come for you."

Zeref shook his head, not wanting to argue about this with her, but knowing that she could not continue on living with her innocent world views. The world would be gone soon, he needed to show her just how much this was needed, even if she would not accept it. And he knew she wouldn't accept it because if she told him why this was wrong he would not accept it, he hadn't accepted it when she tried before. So, he knew it was fruitless to try, but just as it didn't stop her, it didn't stop him either. "What is justice to you?"

"It is to punish others for their crimes that they have wrongfully committed."

"How far does that go? I have my own set of moral codes, but I make them simple."

"And those moral codes are?"

"To contribute to the world, be worthy of walking on it's surface. That's the only moral I have in this twisted world. If it was perfect, that's a different story. No lies, no murder, no hurt, no theft. Everyone would have everything they ever _needed_. No one would go hungry, everyone could share. Selfishness, obliterated."

"But it's such a black and white view. People have emotions and even good people do bad things."

"That's the excuse evil uses to comfort themselves."

"People lie to spare another's feelings. People hurt others sometimes when their angry whether it's with their words or fists and they don't mean it half the time. Thievery is conducted to feed ones families, people have things that are their own. Not everything is okay to be shared. People are selfish all the time, it's human impulses! Unless you get rid of all those things, this world will never-."

"I am getting rid of them!" he growled. "Every last one."

"These things you're creating are monsters. They're not even human. They're artificial and fake! They can't _replace_ humanity! It just doesn't work that way!"

"But why not! Why can't it work that way! They'll never know any better. The only reason you have a problem with it is because…"

"Because I've tasted true life and I know what it's supposed to be like. You can't take my experiences away from me, they make me who I am. These perfect beings have no sense of self, they work to please and all be the same. They have no freewill they don't have wants or cravings, they're not human."

Zeref was silent before he chuckled coldly. "Well, that's to be expected I suppose. They're perfect after all."

"This isn't saving humanity."

"I don't want to save humanity then I guess. All I want is a perfect world with no suffering."

"Suffering shapes us into who we are. Without suffering, we just live for nothing. There's no reason to try hard, and if there's no consequences, then how can their be rewards also. This life is full of contradiction, things that can not exist without their opposite. Love cannot exist without hate, selfishness can't exist without selflessness, life can't exist without death. Just as this world cannot exist without it's universe, and the universe cannot exist without Gods."

"What about them? What can Gods not exist without?"

"Gods cannot exist without reality, and reality cannot exist without the one magic."

"Love…"

"That's what it all circles back to. The history of the universe. These beings were not created with love, Zeref. They were created with desperation."

Zeref's head was spinning and he despised all her logic, he despised every bit of it. "Then none of that will exist." Zeref said. Mavis' brows furrowed.

"What?"

"Love will not exist! It doesn't have to! Love is not my priority! Perfection is! Peace is! Hope is!"

"How can any of those exist without love!"

"Because if I achieve perfection none of it has to. Perfection doesn't need love, it's perfect. Perfection doesn't need anything!"

"That's why it can't exist!"

"I will make it exist!" Zeref screamed.

"We can't, Zeref! We don't make worlds, we don't strive for perfection, we don't go out searching to make the world into something it's not! We live! Every day on this Earth we live! Our presence changes the world, the tiny things we do everyday will one day show as our civilization thrives millions of years from now! Change takes time! But it'll get better!"

"It WON'T!" he screamed at her and then flinched back from the fury in his own voice. He'd never yelled like that, with pure fury, it was a little frightening. But Mavis didn't appear scared, she just narrowed her eyes, expecting him to continue with his explanation. "It won't. I've lived for a long time, Mavis. For 4 centuries, possibly more." He bit his lip. "It's only gotten worse. It will never get better. I've seen it, the world changing without me as I stood still. Do you have any idea what that's like? Watching as the world changes, staying the same, always the same. As things move on without you. Watching as wars are won and lost, as people are born and as they die, and you know what they say? They say goodbye. As if they were somehow significant! As if their life changed anything! Well it didn't. Nothing changed and the world… it just kept on spinning."

Madness gleamed in his eyes. He clutched her shoulders, "Blood, everywhere. It didn't matter where, but this blood that makes us human, this death that makes us human. So many restrictions, things that make us human. Monster, they called me, and I didn't understand why. Why did they call me such things? I was human, I knew I was but… I was hunted like an animal. Wanted for everything I could and could not give. If they had found me… when I was young I had no idea what they'd do to me, but I saw the looks in their eyes and that was the only thing that reassured me. Monster I may be, but I wasn't the only one. They said they'd fix me you know. Like I was a broken toy… I killed them, and I hid, but they always seemed to find me. It wasn't until I went to your island, that they couldn't see me. But they always come back don't they?"

Mavis knew she had to snap him out of this before he spiraled down into a sea of insanity. Whenever she spoke with him, told him to stop, this was what happened. No matter what he always ended up screaming and having mental breakdowns. She realized that this perfect world of his, the reassurance that everything would one day be okay, was the only thing keeping him sane, and when that was threatened, true humanity started shining through, revealing how broken he truly was. "What else?" she asked him calmly.

"I always killed everything every day. But I thought it will all stop at some point. No one was cruel enough to do this forever, or so I thought. That thought got me through the days, it let me continue to live. After about a century though I was done waiting to die. So I took initiative, creating demons and such. But they couldn't kill me. Again and again, my body ripped apart over and over, but it never ended me. I had always thought that humans were born and they died. Almost as if they were already dead when being born, and perhaps life was just… just a cycle, just a process. The moments before death. But I was different, like I was born to live and somehow that seemed even more meaningless. I never told anyone that."

"It's good to talk about your feelings." Zeref stared at her and pulled his hands back. For some reason, her response pulled him out of a sort of panic attack.

"Your words make sense Mavis… to ordinary person. But as you say this now, with such sincerity in your voice. For me, when you talk about the reasons to stop they sound just as ludicrous to me as what my reasons must sound like to you. Like they are utter insanity. I often feel like I'm the only sane one, though I know that's not the case, and perhaps thinking I am just makes me more insane in the eyes of others. I don't understand how you can't see the logic in my reasons just as you are likely appalled by the fact that I can't see the reason in yours. Therefore, I believe it's highly unlikely and simply a waste of time to try and convince each other that what we want is right. It won't work. So perhaps we should simply try and sabotage each other, like we have been."

Mavis was a little surprised he knew she was thinking of sabotaging him and had already tried to do so. Then again, she hadn't been discreet with all her methods, really. So, she nodded, because she knew he was right. It was rather pointless to try and convince each other, obviously, because it had not been working. "I'm sorry, for getting so… unstable."

"It's… alright." It wasn't like it was something he could help or stop so there was no point in getting angry over it. She bit her lip, "My question is, if you know I might try to sabotage you, why show me this? I know you think it's safe, but if there's even a small chance of you not succeeding because you tell me, then what's the point?"

"I love you." He said. "I don't want to keep secrets from you."

If Mavis hadn't been feeling guilty before, she sure as hell did now. "That's…" Mavis didn't know what to say. Sweet? Honest? Nice? "Not evil…" is what ended up coming out of her mouth before she could filter it. That was not exactly how she wanted to compliment him, but there was nothing she could do now.

Instead of getting mad he laughed slightly. "Um, that wasn't what I meant to say…" Mavis grumbled under her breath.

"Oh, but it is. You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it."

"I would've filtered it…"

"I don't want you to filter it. That's almost the same as lying." Mavis sighed.

"Listen, uh, I just… I don't know why you trust me with so many things when all I've done is lie to you over and over again."

"What? Am I making you feel bad?"

"Is that what your doing?" Mavis asked, pretending to be oblivious. Zeref shrugged,

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, I'm just doing what I feel like doing."

"Okay…" Mavis said, not buying it, but he would get confused if she started to contradict him about how _he_ felt.

"Now that I've told you about Plan B, I feel like… like we're connected more. I want to feel connected to you, to feel you… is that weird?"

"Coming from anyone else, I'd think they were a creeper. But from you… it's not weird at all. Almost normal." Which was a little weird in itself.

"I see. I guess that's good. So, does this perhaps mean that you've changed your mind?"

"About what?"

"About loving me?"

"No." she really hated to be so blunt, it made her feel bad, like he was unlovable or something, but what else was she to do? She felt she had to just be blunt. If she wasn't then he'd probably make-up a reason why she was beating around the bush. A reason she probably wouldn't like.

Zeref only smiled slightly and nodded.

"One day." She doubted it, but she let him have his fun, if only to keep him from going deeper off the deep end.

Then again, perhaps she wasn't any better. That thought made her amused. As bad as him, it was horribly ironic. "Zeref, do you still love _me_?"

"Yes." He was very blunt with his answer as well, but that somehow made her feel worse because she wanted to ask him why even though she herself had not given him reasons. Still she felt she didn't need justification. She didn't love him, she just didn't, she didn't have to tell him why. But he did, that was different… because it was love.

"Why?"

"Why?" he seemed startled by the question. She nodded solemnly.

"Yes, why do you love me? Why do you feel that strongly about me."

"Do I need justification?" she was getting a little irritated. Obviously he did if she'd asked. "Why can't I just love you because I do?"

Mavis frowned but she supposed his words made sense. "Are you searching for compliments? Such as I love your eyes, or something ridiculous like that?"

Mavis flushed. She didn't want his approval… "No, that's not what this is about!"

"Good, because those are things I love _about_ you. That's completely different than simply loving you, which I do." Zeref shrugged. "So I don't see why I have to give you reasons. I simply love you. Just as I don't ask about reasons why you don't love me, you just don't."

Mavis laughed humorlessly. "Love, the world's most complex emotion and that's the only thing you've explained simply."

"Love is simple, you just do it." Zeref explained. Mavis thought about that, and supposed he was right. There was truly no other way to do it. Still, hearing it said like that, like it was so easy made her a little angry. "It's not like morality, or honesty, or even justice. It is an emotion that is unrivaled and that of which humans cannot be without. It's what made the curse so terrible. I couldn't help loving… I couldn't help being human."

"Then be human again… don't do these things."

"We loathe that which we cannot control. You loathe me, just as I loathe you in some subconscious part of my mind. We fear those that can reap our lives. We beg and worship those with greater power. We throw ourselves at the feet of some higher being. I don't want to be human. I don't want to do all those things. I want to be the higher being, the one humans bow before."

"You want to be a God?"

"Perhaps. Mavis, who do you love most in the world? Who makes you human? At first it was Natsu, now it is you and him. You make me human, as human as I can be."

"I don't need people to _make_ me human. I'm not like you. I just know I am. I may live to beg and crawl and take anything this world throws at me… I may live to serve, or whatever it is you think we live for. I may live just to one day die. My existence might be meaningless to you and to those who look at the bigger picture. I might be worthless to them, in the end, I might not do anything considered, "worthwhile" but I lived my life to the fullest and I don't need others to accept the fact that I'm human. I don't need their acceptance. Not like you do. I want to continue living! I want to continue on! I want… I want to save humanity! Real humanity! Not some perfect version you've made up inside your twisted head!"

"It will soon be reality, my love."

"It's funny isn't it." Mavis said, backing away from him slowly. She placed her hand on the doorknob, ready to fling open the door, run, and leave. She thought she could be brave and withstand everything he through at her. She thought she could handle the sick way he made her feel, but she couldn't. "Reality can be so easily twisted, so easily redone. Only real things are reality, which is why our dreams sometimes come true. We deem things impossible and such but only so that we don't realize the full potential of the universe. A million years ago, humanity wouldn't have dreamed that society could prosper in such ways as these. Fiction they'd call it, impossible they'd call it, but it is our reality. Then, it would've been a dream because it had not yet been achieved. But just as dreams can become reality, reality can become dream. And this reality you seek shall never come to pass for no matter what humans have survived." She gripped the crystal in her palm, flinging open the door. "They'll continue to survive through their humanity. Through their ability to lie and cheat and steal. You shouldn't have trusted me Zeref… you should've known that. But your human feelings got in the way." Power carried her away, surrounding her form. "I will stop you. No matter how many of my moral codes I have to break."

Fighting fire with her bare hands is what she was doing, challenging him. But even if she burned, she'd make sure to take him with her. All the way to hell, where they'd burn together. And the world would be saved, but they wouldn't remember it though. The story of the boy and the girl who fought fire and were burned for their ignorance. But that was just a story. Reality was much crueler than that tale. Because at least in that story they were together… at least they died together. But the world wouldn't give her what she wanted. It never did.

* * *

 **A/N Okay, this chapter didn't turn out exactly like how I wanted, but I couldn't think of what else to do with it. This chapter was basically just dialogue and no action, so I'm sorry for that, but I needed a break from war, and Mavis and Zeref needed to be able to talk without any pressing matter tearing them apart. Next chapter will be filled with MUCH more action, I promise. So, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, because I had a fun time writing it. Thank you guys for reading, reviews/follows/favorites all appreciated. Have a good rest of you day/night. Bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

Mavis appeared in the courtyard, not having the courage to go far. She was just annoyed, and not by any means stupid. Even if she did go far away, where would she go? Soon, there would be nowhere left. She was even starting to wonder if Zeref had a point… but that was ridiculous. She growled under her breath and started walking around the castle's courtyard. Bushes lined the front, each filled with beautiful carnations, and she wondered how such a beautiful place could have such terrible secrets.

Wandering gave her time to reflect and she hoped, to whatever God may be out there, that Zeref didn't decide to kill himself while she was away. She was angry, but not cruel. She could never wish that sort of pain on anyone. Not even him.

Not even someone who murdered others for his own goals. Mavis kept walking the perimeter and from the corner of her eye she saw something, or someone. They were dressed in black, tucked into one of the darker corners of the palace. Mavis frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

This had warning signs written all over it, and Mavis wasn't stupid. She knew that she should probably just leave immediately and go tell Zeref that there were suspicious characters on the premises, so that he could send his guards to check, or even go himself.

But she was still mad, and she didn't _really_ know who they were or if they were bad. However, she did remember Zeref saying something about soldiers from Pargrande. She didn't think they'd be foolish enough to stay by the castle, but apparently, they'd figured that it was so stupid, Zeref wouldn't think of it. Which was actually rather intelligent… maybe.

Then, she had a rather horrible thought. These people were obviously trying to kill Zeref, which meant they were indirectly trying to save humanity.

Mavis frowned to herself, and while mad she was she also knew it would probably be best if she went and told Zeref about all of this right away. But still, somewhere in the back of her mind it told her that she should at least go introduce herself.

Zeref felt the moment she left and sighed. How unbelievably childish, running away from such a conversation. He wasn't finished talking to her either! Zeref growled under his breath and left the room, to follow her. It was rude to walk out in the middle of a conversation and Zeref was determined to tell her so.

And how did he know where she was? Well, he could track her magical signal, but if she teleported too far away, that would be useless, so ingrained in the lacrima was a tracking device. It was also how he'd found her so quickly when the alarm sounded. The teleportation lacrima was meant to give her freedom, or rather, it was designed to make her believe she had freedom, when really he was still in control and in the end that helped both of them. So, Zeref didn't feel as if it was wrong or morally incorrect in any way. As long as it made them both happy.

A little voice in the back of his mind told him that she was only happy because she didn't know any better. If she knew he could track her she'd be furious. And he told that voice to shut up, because ignorance was bliss. And what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. At least, that was how the saying went.

Zeref followed his own crystal which kept getting brighter the closer he got to her and dimmer as he went away. Like a game of hot and cold. Probably a design flaw, he'd have to get that checked out sometime and work on a more practical method of locating her. Which might've been an even bigger pain. Zeref frowned as no matter which hallway he took he only seemed to be getting colder and colder. He couldn't feel her magical energy very well as for some reason she was suppressing it rather well.

Eventually he realized that Mavis must not be in the castle, but might've gone outside. He should've really guessed this outcome sooner as Mavis had always been fond of the outdoors. But because he had spent so much time in the world he didn't really see the beauty in it, only how each living thing was designed to strip the life from another. Which was a rather depressing viewpoint (as he'd been told by countless people) but unfortunately for those people he'd never been too concerned about something like that.

He found her in the courtyard and she was close to one of the darker corners of the castle. Zeref's frown deepened as he drew nearer to observe her.

 _Creeper_

 _Stalker_

 _Wierdo_

 _Why are you staring at her! If she finds you…_

 _She's going to think you do this often!_

For once the voices in his head seemed to agree upon something. Though usually they weren't as prominent as this and kept to the back of his mind. He'd only just recently started experiencing some of their hardcore effects.

She seemed to be listening into a conversation as well. Which wasn't like her, he didn't remember her being sneaky in any form and she certainly wasn't underhanded. That was more of up his alley, which made him concerned. He couldn't imagine Mavis eavesdropping 100 years ago… had he done this to her? Influenced her somehow? Maybe he had taught her some of what he saw the world as.

Which in a way saddened him. Mavis was supposed to be too pure to be corrupted by someone like him. But apparently the world had infected even her. Another reason why it need to end. Another reason to a long list of reasons that he had written down. Lists helped him stay sane, and remember things. Because now-a days he was always forgetting. The date, the time, sometimes he woke up one morning and couldn't remember who he was for a few moments or why it mattered.

Could you really go so long? Could someone live long enough to forget their own name eventually? Zeref didn't know. He had already forgotten his parents names. He'd already forgotten everyone's names. Except for his 12 generals, Mavis, Natsu, and himself. And someday he wondered if he would forget that as well. Maybe he'd forget his generals, as once they died they served no purpose. And maybe he'd even forget his own name, as that didn't serve any purpose either. But he didn't think he could ever forget his brothers name… he hoped that wasn't possible.

He sensed danger around Mavis, and wondered if he should approach her. Something was very wrong, and he was surprised that Mavis herself couldn't detect the evil presence. He frowned and started edging just a little closer. Step by step, inching his way closer.

"Um… excuse me." He heard Mavis speak, to someone, but he didn't know who, and that caused him even further concern. He quickly scrambled behind the corner of the castle as four people emerged from the shadows, though somehow they were still bathed in darkness, even though the sun was shining directly on top of them. In comparison, Mavis was a beam of sunlight.

"Yes?" one asked. He was dark haired and blue-eyed. Zeref couldn't help but be jealous. The man was rather handsome after all. Still, he recognized this person. He was one of the people who nearly killed him. Which meant that the other four were probably his accomplices, meaning that Mavis could be in danger. But no one was attacking yet, so Zeref stayed where he was, waiting, wondering what Mavis was doing. "What do you want? Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same questions." Mavis said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you're the spies Zeref was talking about. From Pargrande, right? I have to say, staying here was incredibly stupid of you."

"Stupid? I wouldn't say incredibly stupid, since no one has found us."

"Yes but anyone walking in this courtyard could've easily spotted you. If you're going to be clever, at least find a proper hiding spot." She said blandly. "What is it you're doing here anyway? Are you here to get revenge on Zeref for what he did to your country, because if that's the case you may as well give up now."

"Our country? Yeah right, we don't care about that!" the woman said and grinned. It was unnatural, almost like his own, which made him shiver. "All we want is revenge against Zeref for what he did to each of us."

Zeref saw Mavis frown at them, "So this isn't some noble act to save the world?" the four glanced at each other and the tall man shook his head, and when he spoke his voice was deep.

"No. I suppose we save the world in the process… but it is not our goal to destroy Alverez's efforts. It is to get revenge against the man who made us so miserable and who ruined our lives." Zeref stared at them for the longest time, but he could not, for the life of him, remember who they were. No matter how deep he searched he could only recall a few names. Natsu, Mavis, August, Igneel… Anna… the rest started to blur together, faces so clear but names were lost on him. He couldn't though, he didn't remember meeting any of them. Perhaps it was his followers who had hurt them. The Tower of Heaven, Deliora, maybe some cult who worshipped him.

Then, the dark-haired man jumped into a sob story. Zeref wrinkled his nose and nearly gagged. It was so stupid. "We were all childhood friends. My name is Blake and these are my best friends. Ethan, Nate and Clarissa. We lived in a lovely little village until one day… a man came, specifically the black wizard Zeref. He brought death with him and killed our village with his death magic. We had been on the very outskirts of the village, playing, when we watched some of the grass in the field start to go black. It was the most terrifying sight in my life. Of course, we knew only one being could bring about so much death so quickly, for our elders had been warning us about him since we were small. So, we ran, there was nothing else we could do. And upon our return everything was gone. Everyone was murdered, dead. We had nothing left. We have been searching for him ever since, waiting to get revenge and now it's finally possible! He's mortal, vulnerable, he can be killed, and we will be the ones to end him!"

Zeref frowned, knowing he had murdered a lot of villages back in the day. He supposed it was possible that these four, as children, had been a part of one. But what infuriated him was their ignorance. How dare they spout nonsense about being able to kill him! As if they could do such things. Mavis expressed this by asking, "What do you mean? Just because Zeref's mortal doesn't mean he'll be easy to defeat. He's still a very powerful wizard who could probably kill you in an instant." She explained.

"That's why we're waiting here for hostages… someone… important to him to pass by." Mavis hmphed and crossed her arms.

"Too bad nothing but his stupid take over the world project is important to him." Blake smirked as he stared at her.

"I'm not so sure about that." Zeref could practically hear the thoughts that ran through Blake's mind.

"Mavis, step away from them." Zeref said, finally relinquishing his hiding position.

"Well, look who it is?" Blake smirked at him. Zeref felt rage start to creep up within him.

"Let her leave now, and I shall allow you to peacefully leave my country." Zeref reasoned only for Nate to scoff,

"What? And die a few days later? I don't think so." He said.

Mavis frowned, and started backing away from the four, like one would back away from a pack of wolves. Blake reached out and snatched her wrist, to which Mavis started fighting furiously. He may have trapped her, but she wasn't going to allow him to keep her for long. Magic flared within her as she started to summon Fairy Law, while she could feel Zeref's death magic start to snake up like a cat on the prowl. Zeref's eyes turned a bloody shade of red and he snarled.

"Ethan…" Blake said warningly, glaring at his subordinate. Ethan was frozen, staring at Zeref, his eyes glittering with unrivaled fear.

"Ugh, you big baby, give me that!" Clarissa shouted, searching frantically through his pockets. Blake only groaned and shook his head. They had been preparing for this very moment for over ten years and Ethan froze up. He should've known a complication like that would happen. "F-found it!" Clarissa stuttered. "Eat dirt black wizard!" she cried triumphantly.

In an instant the entire courtyard felt different. Mavis gasped in pain as it felt like the magic inside her was ripped out of her body. She heard Zeref make a similar noise, and Mavis felt her limbs give out, the only thing preventing her from hitting the ground was Blake's arm. She gasped and groaned, "What is that." Her eyes felt heavier and she struggled to stay awake.

Mavis felt herself released and she fell with a thud. "It's like magic suppressing handcuffs, except in the form of a vacuum and within a certain radius all magic is sucked into this." He held up the device. "And as long as it's operating within this radius no magic can exist."

"But magic is equivalent to a wizard's lifeforce!"

"I know." Blake said. "I'm not stupid. Soon enough, the both of you will die… however." He turned to Zeref. "I'm not a bad person. I'm not like you. I'm not here to murder people. I'm not here for her." Zeref started crawling towards them as quickly as he could.

"So, make it easy on yourself, don't fight, and I won't kill her too." Mavis squeezed her eyes shut, and dug her fingernails into the dirt. He wouldn't do that for her. Nothing was more important to him than his project of perfect worlds.

"Don't you dare kill her." Zeref whispered. He'd lost too much, he couldn't lose her, not her too. "Please not her." Zeref squeezed his eyes shut.

"That important to you, huh? Would it really hurt you so much to see her die?" Blake asked.

"Yes, it would."

"Then perhaps…" Zeref watched as Blake's hand slipped to his belt and Zeref's eyes widened as he saw a holster on the man's hip. He drew a gun from it, and Zeref glared at it. It seemed someone had already stolen his idea.

Blake pointed the gun at Mavis and smirked. "Then in that case, since everyone is shaming the word morals, I can as well. Just this once."

"No, don't!" Zeref cried. Struggling, he stood, glaring at Blake. He panted and Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You think you can defeat me with the condition your in? Don't make me laugh." He chuckled softly.

"I will save her, even if I don't kill you."

"Through what? The power of love?"

Love, a strange thing. If he didn't love her than he wouldn't even dream of saving her, of giving his life for hers. Zeref slowly reached into his pocket fingering the switch that would send an emergency alert to all his generals and lead them right to him. He'd installed it in the same lacrima that led him to Mavis. In fact, he wondered if the device could even be called a lacrima considering how it was chalk-full of technology. Zeref didn't think it would ever be necessary, but he was paranoid, so he installed it just in case. Zeref flipped it and hoped he could stall Blake long enough for his generals to arrive and destroy him and his team. Maybe not long enough to save his life, but hopefully long enough to save Mavis'. He then returned his attention to the gun.

"Don't shoot it. Don't." Zeref said, trying to make his eyes stern, screaming at him with them.

August felt his pocket vibrate as he was looking through ancient texts for the hell of it. He frowned and reached his hand in, grabbing the small device. He remembered now, the emperor had given him this, just in case one of them was ever in trouble. He was paranoid like that. He held the lacrima in front of him and it started following it's glow. The brighter it got, the closer he got, like a game of hot and cold. "His majesty really needs to install a better tracking method." August grumbled.

"And why shouldn't I?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow. He held his finger on the trigger, staring at Zeref with cold ice eyes. He didn't even look happy at the revenge he was being granted. Just furious and hateful. He gripped the gun tighter, until his fingers turned ghost pale.

"Because I love her." Zeref whispered, his fingers trembling. He wasn't sure of his own expression, but it probably looked more pitiful than it had in a long time.

Blake shook his head, chuckling humorlessly. "And what about you? Did you ever think that perhaps my family, my friends, my village was important to me? That I loved it? I'll tell the answer, you didn't! You didn't think about how your actions could hurt others, or how the survivors may feel! Your not even thinking about her right now are you? Are you! No, you're probably only thinking about how lonely you'll be after she's gone!"

"I love her…" he whispered again.

"I already know for a fact that's not true, black wizard. You're not capable of loving anybody. And no one is capable of loving you."

"You're wrong!" Zeref shouted, his body starting to tremble. It wasn't fair of him o say such things! What did he know about anything! "It's not true… it's not true."

"It is." Blake said. "It's unfortunate because I can see nothing reflected in your eyes. Not love, nor hate, nor fear. I see nothing. You are empty, broken, always broken, no matter how hard you try to act human you are unable. Because you are a psychopathic maniac with a God complex."

"No! No, no, NO!" he screamed, stumbling as he walked forward. He didn't know what he'd do once he reached Blake, maybe punch him, kick him, something, anything! "That's not true! It isn't!" Zeref tried to feel angry, real angry, but something didn't feel right. Something that made his heart clench.

"You try to act human, you really do try. But you're not human. It's not possible for you to love."

Zeref could love, he was capable, he felt it everyday. Pain and sadness and hope. He felt all of it, but something again was missing. Something that was needed. He didn't know what it was but maybe… maybe it was joy. Something he just couldn't feel no matter what. Love, he was capable of. Joy, he was not."

"He's somewhat right Zeref." Mavis whispered. Again, she was arguing against him… "You've loved for so long, so blindly. That you might've run out. I didn't think it was possible, but I haven't been alive for 400 years, so maybe it is."

"I'm human. My blood flows and my heart beats!"

"Perhaps I shouldn't say your not human." Blake said. "I guess it would be more accurate to say that you've lost your humanity."

"Shut up, just shut up!" Blake shot him then, nowhere lethal but Zeref screamed regardless and watched as blood flowed from the open wound.

"Stay still." Blake said, and Mavis stood and watched, unable to bring herself to move. She was frozen in fear and even gross fascination. He shot Zeref again and this time he let out a strangled cry, unable to scream because the pain took his breath away.

Then, Blake trained the gun back on Mavis. "We'll see just how much your capable of loving I suppose." Zeref, barely standing, tasted blood. His eyes barely had time to widen and Zeref reached a hand towards her.

Everything was surreal and hazy, like a dream. Blood was everywhere, like a horror film. He screamed as Blake pulled the trigger, aiming it straight at Mavis' head.

And from inside the castle, August heard a gunshot.

* * *

 **A/N Don't hate me, I promise I'll have the next chapter soon because this is a massive cliffhanger. Tomorrow or Saturday I'll have it. I already wrote it but their are some minor/major things that I forgot to add. I can't promise you'll like me again next chapter because... well, that's a spoiler. There will be a sequel to this because I'm an idiot for forgetting some very major things (SUCH AS BLAKE AND THEM WERE HIRED!) You'll find out who hired them next time and then the sequel will introduce a new bad guy. I'll have more information for you next time, as I didn't know I needed a sequel until a few minutes ago when I realized I left some major questions unanswered... see you guys hopefully tomorrow. Reviews/follows/favorites are all welcome. Bye... *sigh***


	11. Chapter 11

Zeref didn't know what he was thinking. He could've pushed Mavis out of the way. Perhaps then, the both of them could've been saved, but all Zeref had been thinking about at the time was that he had to save her. And so, he'd done the thing he thought of first; throwing himself in front of the bullet so that it would hit him, not her. Of course, at such close range there was the possibility that the bullet could go straight through him and into her, and Zeref found himself almost hoping for that so they could die together.

But he would still be happy if it was only him who died. Because at least if it was him, one of them still had a chance to live. Zeref knew that he would never be able to continue on if Mavis died and left him. He couldn't live through that again. But she could. She didn't need him like he needed her. She didn't love him like he loved her. And that was alright. His love was rarely reciprocated, and when it was that person usually ended up dead. He could prove that too. Maybe, not loving him, was what had saved her in the end.

He knew that notion was ridiculous. Scientifically impossible… but so was killing someone by loving them, so he supposed science didn't really play a part in the world.

He felt the bullet ripping through him and prayed it wouldn't hit her. Yes, he prayed. That was how desperate he was. If any God were to hear him and somehow grant this desire it would be worth it. "ZEREF!" He heard her scream his name… how touching. Pain exploded through him, but he was used to much worse. What he hadn't experienced was the pain continuing throb in his chest.

"Now it's your turn." Blake aimed to fire again. "You may have saved her once black wizard, but you won't do so again." Zeref was still standing in front of her, but at any moment his legs would fail him. And indeed they did.

He felt himself hit the ground though he barely registered that. Then he laughed. Full blown laughter that made Blake hesitate. Anyone would, faced with a dying man's maniacal laughter.

Blake cursed when he heard voices coming around the corner. Even if they entered his magic sucking field he would never be able to defeat them once the masses started coming. "Your lucky, woman." He grumbled, glaring at Mavis. "But we got what we came for. Come on guys, let's go.

So, the other three followed Blake. Mavis scowled at their retreating figures. What jerks! "Zeref…" she crawled over to him as fast as she could. After a few more moments Blake and the others deactivated the vacuum and started running, slipping effortlessly into the shadows to the point where Mavis couldn't see any of them despite some rather bright hair colors. Strange.

But Mavis didn't dwell on that, because she turned back to Zeref. He was so pale, paler than normal. "Pull yourself together." She mumbled.

He kept chuckling, "I guess, deep down I always knew…" he whispered. Mavis frowned.

"Knew…"

"Knew my dream was impossible. Sure I could've wiped out the human race, no problem there but… perfection is unattainable. You're right, we're not Gods, we don't make the world something it was never meant to be."

"Then why did you try? If deep down you knew it would fail."

"Everyone wants to feel like someone, wants to have a purpose. I just… I wanted to be somebody…. like humans do."

"Dear Gods…" Mavis heard a voice behind her. It was August with a few other guards. "Somebody, go get the medic! There's still time, we can save him."

"Don't bother. If anyone but Mavis gets near me now, I will kill them with my very last breath." Zeref said. "Mavis, I've wanted to die for so very long. I can feel it coming now, it's almost here. Do you wonder what you see in your final moments?"

She shook her head. "I don't think I know either. But I imagine you reflect on your life."

"That's a lot of reflecting." Mavis said numbly.

"Do me a favor and live your life until you die of old age…"

"I will try."

"And don't do stupid things. It makes me worry." She nodded, unaware of what she was even saying anymore.

"I won't."

"That… makes me happy." He smiled at her another laugh escaping his throat. Then he coughed, blood landing on snow skin, making an oddly beautiful visage. Lips quirking upward, she knew he was lovely.

"Don't leave." She said. "We could save you… I don't want you to die."

"No, you just don't want to be alone." he could see through her so easily.

"I don't… don't leave me alone." she cried. She'd been alone for so long, nearly all her life. First her parents left her alone, then Zera, then Zeref, then she'd died and been all alone for so long. Then she finally got the chance to be with her family again and they were murdered. "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME!" She screamed. "YOU CAN'T HAVE BROUGHT ME ALL THIS WAY TO DIE ON ME! I HATE YOU!" She screamed, tears sliding down her cheeks. How dare he. How dare he leave her all alone after dragging her along. She choked on her tears and just let them fall one after another, not caring if he saw them. It would probably only hurt him to see her cry. "Good." She thought darkly and then dismissed it with more depressing thoughts. "You're really leaving me on my own. After everything."

"I'm sorry."

"You know, you're always saying that aren't you?" she wondered. "But in the end your apologies mean nothing. You're still throwing your life away."

"I would hardly call it throwing my life away…" he coughed and his eyes squeezed shut for a few moments before opening again. He laughed again, giggling insanely. "It's pretty funny, huh?"

"What?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"Life. It doesn't really matter does it? Nothing matters, no matter who dies, no matter what wars are fought, no matter who's hurt, who's sad, who's insane, who's depressed, who's suicidal. It doesn't matter what we think or what someone said, or if we feel at all. It doesn't matter if we love or hate or laugh or cry… the world just keeps on spinning." He lifted his finger and moved it in a circle. "Again and again and again." he muttered lazily.

In a way it was true. In a very dark way.

He giggled again. "Who am I? Who are we?" Mavis just shook her head. Questions. He was asking questions at a time like this! Shouldn't he be sobbing or smiling and breathing contentedly. Or giving a long speech about why he did the things he did, to somehow justify himself. "You're pretty." Ramblings. She didn't listen to him. She couldn't talk to him when he became like this. When his sanity was on the edge of being lost forever. "Shut up, no she's not! Then why are you blushing?"

Mavis sighed. Maybe he was done talking as himself. Maybe she should leave, but she didn't want to leave him now. Not in his final moments. She shifted and he shot up screaming. "DON'T LEAVE!" He clung to her, tears filling his eyes. "I don't want to die." His tears slipped down, a shock to her. He'd never let them fall before.

"Don't be afraid." She whispered. "It will all be over soon enough."

"You're right…" he smiled at her and reached a hand up to cup her cheek. "You look so anguished." Did she? She hadn't noticed. She leaned down and kissed him. Once, hard, filled with fury and desperation. This had always been their relationship and it had never been destined for anything more. They were companions. They understood the other's pain. They kissed and hugged and smiled just to say they had a lover when in reality they were anything but that.

Tears dripped onto his skin and she could feel his tears on her as well, joined by blood and tears and pain they were. Human they were and always would be. Skin, she dug her nails in, he held her tight, like they were clinging on with every ounce of strength they had. "Don't go." She whispered, but he would. He had talked about his fear of her leaving him but she had never thought about what she would feel if he left her.

She could taste his blood, connected not just by touch but by soul. She could feel what he felt, his love and pain. He loved her maybe, if he knew what that felt like anymore. She didn't, she never had, she never would. She could never love him, not like that.

He was her soulmate sure, but she didn't love him. They were forever joined, forever touching, but they were not in love. What she felt for him was not quite hate, but not love either and she didn't really know what to call it, but it was there. "I always knew I'd take a bullet for you…" he whispered in her ear. She froze at his words, "And I always knew you'd never take one for me."

He was right, of course. He was always right. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I love you, but I know you don't love me. I guess I broke my promise after all. Two promises actually."

"No, you only broke one promise. You promised to save the world by destroying it. Well Zeref, the world went to hell. But we'll rebuild it, better than ever."

"That's good I suppose." He whispered, tears still falling. "I love you."

"I know." She squeezed his hand and felt her heart breaking, cracking slowly, like the world was dropping around her feet. Zeref's expression slowly faded and he started closing his eyes. "In another reality, could we have made it?"

"It doesn't matter, this is the only reality we have. We didn't make it, but that's okay. In the end it doesn't matter if we made it. All that matters is that… is that we tried." Zeref's hand slipped from her cheeks and fell to the ground with a thud. His eyes glazed over a small smile sporting on his face.

"Was it worth it?" she asked, needing to know. "Please hear me." She thought desperately, her tears so thick, clouding her vision but she heard him perfectly fine,

"Every. Single. Breath." She heard him exhale once more, his last breath. Of course, she didn't know this until no more breaths came and she was officially sitting next to a dead person, bathing in their blood. Zeref… his name, words, voice. She would never hear it again. He would never look at her, call her his fairy or his love or whatever stupid nick name he decided to call her.

Her breath got caught in her throat tears sprang to her eyes as memories of him seared themselves into her mind. A quiet chuckle, a shy smile, glazed eyes, shaking fingers.

Beside him she trembled, her entire body feeling numb. Every single breath, it was worth this outcome. It hurt. Everything inside her hurt. His blood covered her. He'd died for her and she couldn't even tell him three words.

August and several others were there now, but she didn't feel like seeing any of them. So, she got up, glanced at him one more time, laying motionless. Just a minute ago he was alive telling her he loved her. Now he was gone. A life taken so easily only a single breath separating him from the ghosts beyond. She smiled humorlessly at him, "See you in hell, I suppose." She whispered and ran.

Such a stupid thing to say to him, but she said it none the less. She hated it, hated all of it. She understood why he wanted a perfect world now. Why did they have to love those that were going to die? In what sick world was that normal? Apparently, the one she lived in. Mavis left the courtyard, the flowers sickening to her now. She would never look at it as beautiful ever again. Not when she knew his blood had once stained the lush fields of green. The castle was empty, everyone probably outside, mourning. She cried and cried, but she moved too. Hoping to find something left of him, hoping he'd left her something. Something to go back to over and over again.

Then inside one of her pockets she felt something vibrate. The lacrima he'd given her. Slowly, she took it out and instantly an image appeared on the screen, his image. Her eyes widened, unsure of how this was possible, or how it had been activated. Perhaps a stroke of luck, or maybe Zeref was just that clever but she didn't care and stared listening. Hanging on to every single word that he spoke.

"Uh, Mavis… if you're seeing this I'm either dead or you pressed the wrong button… it'd be awkward if you did that. Anyway, I'm going to assume I'm dead, because that is what this is for. So, I guess I'll get started now. I love you, I do. You may not believe me, tell me that I don't know what love is, but it's true… it's true. I'm sorry, please forgive me for dying and maybe I should sound more remorseful but… I'm not." He gave her a sad smile. "Maybe that's wrong or weird or something, but I'm not." He fiddled with his fingers nervously. "I should probably say something deep shouldn't I?" he gave the camera a lost look and she knew he didn't quite understand what she was feeling. He'd probably gotten so used to loss that he didn't know how much it meant for her, seeing him alive and speaking to her, like they were actually in the same room.

"You don't even know…" she whispered. The nervous looks, sad smiles, fiddling, it all made her heart quicken and every word that came from his mouth felt like his last, because she knew it could be. This would be all she had left of him.

"I guess… there's nothing else to say." He laughed softly and glanced at her. "But now that I'm gone I'm curious… I loved you Mavis so now I'm wondering…" he did indeed look curious. Zeref bent down next to the camera his expression of curiosity and wonder. "Do you feel them?"

And the tape cut off, leaving her very confused. He ended with that? How rude, but she really shouldn't complain since this was all she had left. So she tucked the lacrima back in her pocket and wondered what he meant when he said, "Do you feel them?" feel what?

* * *

 **After Blake runs off this is who he meets,**

"We destroyed him, sir." Blake said, his eyes downcast. He had been hired to do a job, by a very terrifying man. One who had been hurt by Zeref's actions even more than himself. A man who'd had been created by Zeref, only to be tossed aside as an imperfection. "He's dead, he'll never be back."

"Good." The man smiled a terrifying smile, one that sent shivers up Blake's spine. "Then I have nothing left to do here." Blake gulped and asked,

"Payment?" the man smirked at him,

"Consider the fact that I'm not killing you payment." Blake watched as he disappeared into the shadows and decided to consider it payment, as he wanted to keep his life. Slowly, he backed away from the alley and ran the first chance he got.

* * *

A few months later even though the initial grief of his death was gone she still wondered what he meant in the video. She'd watched it over and over and gone through their conversations in her head so many times, but she couldn't remember a thing. It had taken a while since the kingdom was still recovering from war and peace negotiations were so time-consuming, but Zeref's funeral finally came and she was glad that maybe she could put this behind her.

Everyone said a bunch of things about how great he was, but Mavis just felt bored. None of these people had actually known Zeref. They just thought they did. Hell, not even SHE had really known Zeref and she had been the love of his life. So the fact that these people thought they somehow knew even one thing about him was completely beyond her.

She chose not to speak, because there was nothing to say. So many villagers came up to speak about their emperor that Mavis eventually lost track and half-listened to everyone. At one point a little girl came on stage and what she said shocked Mavis out of her bored half-listening state. The girl had her full attention, "Our emperor was a horrible person." She stated bluntly, gazing at all the eyes on her. The villagers were confused, not sure if they should lash out or not. Had it come from an adult there would've been an uproar, but a child?

"He started war and forced us to join even if it was not our ambition or our goal. There was nothing we could do except blindly follow his orders or risk being killed. I've only met him a few times and talked to him once. On an airship, right before he destroyed Fiore. I hated him, positively despised him. But when he turned to me because I said something I met his gaze and I knew why he was king. That didn't stop my hatred. He was the reason my family was so tired, the reason why we could die, so many deaths, meaningless deaths, lives that could've been spared. Gone, because of him. But when he spoke to me, I could hear sadness. It didn't excuse what he did, or what I thought of him, but it made me wonder… he asked me if I had siblings. An absurd question, but I told him I did. Five to be exact, and he told me to take care of them because I would never know when they would be gone… I told him I would and he mused about how I might find myself in HIS situation before calling it absurd and leaving. He might've forgotten me, in fact I doubt he remembered our conversation, but I did and I will never forget it."

"It made me realize that the evil man, one with no heart or soul that had filled my imagination didn't exist. He was not evil, nor is any man, woman, or child. All we are is human and he was as well. Not some evil demon who could not sympathize or feel pain. Not a beastly creature with claws or fangs. No, that conversation, while very short, made me realize that he was just a man. Just a man who made mistakes like any other man. Just scared and lost and lonely like all people sometimes are. Just another person who love and lost so many times their heart remained broken. He was only living like the rest of us. It's absurd to hate another being for an action when there is nothing they can do to reverse it. That is the logical way of looking at things even if that's not possible because we're human and we hate others regardless. It's just who we are, and it's not wrong… it's human. And some of you may shake your head and tell me that I don't know a thing about him since I only talked to him once. So, what about her?" the girl turned to Mavis who frowned at her. "Was the emperor an evil man? Was he a good man?"

"He was a man. A human man. And like all human men he made mistakes." Mavis said quietly. "No, he was not evil. No, he was not good. He was a contradiction." Mavis smiled slightly. "He was at war with himself. He fought to keep his sanity every single moment of every single day. He was the most loving person that I have ever come across. Unfortunately, love destroyed him again and again until it was twisted beyond recognition. He was hunted and wanted for what he did and did not have. He was scared. Always scared, trying to run from his demons, from humans, but he could never get far enough. He was lonely. The loneliest human I have ever seen. Always alone, smiling sadly at his hands and talking to himself, the voices in his head the only company." Soon Mavis was prattling on about everything these people did and did not know about Zeref, tears coming to her eyes as she did so. She thought she was okay, she realized she would never be "okay" again. Meaning she would never be the same person she was before they all left her.

"He was always lost, a vacant look in his eye. And he had not felt joy in a long time. He had a horrible existence, one nobody deserves no matter the mistake he made. He was punished for loving someone too much. He was cursed for wanting to see them once again. He was hunted because they did not understand. And he was alone. He was all alone…" and she should've realized… she should've helped, even if she was unable.

She glanced up at them. "But most of all he was haunted by nightmares and plagued with visions and voices and screams. Screams of those he had wrongfully murdered. He was insane in the end I believe… and they were always cutting."

"Do you feel them?" the question resurfaced in her mind and she subconsciously rubbed her arms, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. He was always being cut down to his soul, every day they ate him inside until he was nothing but a shell of the person he used to be. The tale of this cursed boy was one of the saddest stories she'd ever heard, one that never deserved to be repeated.

In the end, perhaps it would've been better if she had died too… it would've been easier. Was this how he felt? He had said every single breath had been worth it. She stood up, they all stared but she didn't care. The tears were coming and she'd rather strangers not witness them. "In the end…" she finished her voice coming out strangled. "He was the strongest person I have ever met and he will continue being the strongest person I have ever met. Anyone else would've died and gone to hell, would've been catatonic perhaps, screaming, writhing, I don't know. Maybe he wasn't good or evil or brave or courageous. Maybe he didn't have the characteristics of a hero. Maybe he was destined to be a "villain"… maybe he was born to suffer and destroy all he touches… but he's strong. No one can deny that." She couldn't deny it. "That's all." She said and backed away. She hadn't even been planning to say anything but somehow they'd coaxed it out of her.

She hoped somehow it would all be okay, but his voice echoed in her head. "Do you feel them? Do you feel them? Do you feel them?" she knew the answer to that now. She ran away from him, again, when this was her last opportunity to see him, but she didn't want to see a shell of what he actually was. Someone so complex he couldn't even make sense of himself.

She could feel her heart breaking. His face and voice swirled in her mind, eating her alive and she screamed into her hands. Cut, cut, cut. This was what it felt like. Her soul was screaming, she was screaming, her heart was pounding in protest. She finally let the tears fall as she heard his voice, haunting her memories over and over.

 _I love you._

 _My fairy, my love._

 _Do you feel them?_

 _Mavis._ She heard a voice above the rest of the others. It sounded so clear she could barely stand it. _It was worth it… Every. Single. Breath._ She stopped breathing, her heart still pounding. Even after everything this life of his had been worth it. She breathed softly into her hands her body shaking. Every. Single. Breath. He'd do it over and over again. he had survived through this and more. Why couldn't she? She could be just as strong as him, maybe stronger… but no. She couldn't. But she could try.

"I wonder if this was your plan all along." She whispered softly. She could hear him.

 _What? To make you love me?_

"You probably wanted this… wanted me to be able to feel your pain. Well, I hope you're happy."

 _I could never be happy you're in pain. Mavis I want you to continue living. It doesn't matter, nothing else matters. All I want to know is if you love me. Do you? Do you feel the butterflies or the heart pounding or the urge to smile? Are you capable of loving me?_

"I love you…" she whispered. Too bad he wasn't here to hear it. That almost made her more bitter.

 _Then I guess I kept both promises after all, my love._ He would be smiling now, if he was here. If he was here he'd embrace her, maybe even kiss her.

"Yeah, I guess you did." She grumbled and sighed. "You left me alone in the world… I'm mad at you for that."

 _I'm sorry about that… but as I said it doesn't matter what you feel. No matter if your angry or hurt or sad. The world keeps spinning, doesn't it? Even if your world is turned upside down? You can't sit there and tell me that's not funny._

"It's ironic." Mavis said.

 _Okay I'll give you that…_ she could imagine him sitting next to her, staring at the clouds with her. She wrapped her hand around his. _But you can't really be mad at me can you?_ She frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

 _I'm right here you see. So I didn't leave you all alone._ Mavis supposed this was true and just kept sitting there staring at the sky. Slowly, the grief dissipated and the cutting was slowing, much to her relief. The pain wasn't blinding, the glass didn't cut into her soul.

"I'm glad you're here. When you talk to me, I don't feel the glass as much."

 _Hm, that's funny… I feel the same way about you._ She felt his head on her shoulder. _I guess that means we should stay together?_ She nodded.

"Yeah…" she was glad he was back, maybe not in body. Maybe people would think she was crazy, because he wasn't here. He was just a figment of her imagination. Like Zera. But she wanted him. She could see his smile, soft and kind. Like before. She loved him. She cried and she loved him and she wished he was here. She wished she could tell him She wanted him to be here. But this was all she had left. "Don't go." She whispered. Just as she had when he lay dying. She tackled him to the ground the crystal in her pocket falling out and she knew it was falling to the ground but she didn't once move to catch or look at it. Only him. Only him and his big, dark, glittering eyes. She was with him, creating him, holding him, proving she needed him as much as he needed her. Proving that she loved him; that she always had. She knew he'd never truly be with her again. She knew she had lost her chance to tell him she'd loved him long ago. And now she was regretting such a decision. A decision she would never get back. He would never be with her every again, he was gone and yet here. Another absolute contradiction in the messed up world. She had lost him… lost her chance with him. Now this was all she had left. So this was why he smiled sadly and even if he knew it was not quite true he nonetheless replied,

 _Never._

And the tears finally fell from her eyes as the crystal, the last true remnant of him, shattered on the hard ground leaving tiny glass shards scattered beside them.

THE END

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 **A/N Gah, I'm sorry! But this is what I had planned from the start. I changed the chapter a little bit so I'm no longer making a sequel. Uh, Blake and the others were hired by the demon (he can be anybody you want) and he had no further goals other than to eliminate Zeref so we don't need a sequel for him. Unlike the original hirer Acnologia who wants to destroy the world and would need a sequel. You may ask why he didn't just go ahead and kill Zeref himself and why he decided to hire Blake and them? That's like if you had a choice between a strawberry and a grape and you took the grape. You did it because you didn't want the strawberry. That's what it's like for the demon. You can call it being lazy, scared, etc, I don't really care. He decided to hire it out, that's just what happened.**

 **I love Zeref, he's my favorite character but in some stories I'm going to kill him off. Some stories he'll live happily ever after. *shrugs* that's just how my favoritism works (if it makes you feel better though, know that I cried writing this chapter haha). I hope you enjoyed this journey regardless but I warned you of character death and there's a reason I chose Angst and Tragedy as my genres. I'm very excited to be done with it and I thank you guys for reading it and supporting it. I'm already working on another multi-chap it's going to be a Zeref x Natsu thing though so... yeah, I'm going to post the summary in my profile so if you're interested it'll be there. So thanks for reading your thoughts are very much appreciated so reviews/favorites/follows all welcome. Thanks again, goodbye! :)**


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